Where are the woods?

There is a bridge between my office and the center of town. I was arranging to meet a co-worker for dinner and was trying to give her directions to the restaurant from the office. "It's over the river and through the woods," I told her. She looked confused. "Where are the woods?" Pause. "It was a joke... like the song... nevermind. Here's the address."

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Day 2: Grand Rapids, MI to Oconomowoc, WI

When I lived in England, I learned the saying - Start as you mean to go on . I thought about this as the hotel manager explained to me that he was calling because I had left my journal in the hotel room but he would be able to have it shipped back to me if I could provide a pre-paid shipping label. This was the second distressing phone call before lunch. The first distressing phone call was to say that due to high winds expected across Lake Michigan, our ferry to Milwaukee was cancelled. I really like ferries and I had been looking forward to the ferry across Lake Michigan for weeks. We stopped at Panera for lunch and to discuss the situation. My lunch was a disappointing sandwich. And then there was a lot of highway south of Lake Michigan and around Chicago. And Spotify kept slipping weird mellow folk music into my upbeat driving playlist. And then about 20 miles before Oconomowoc, the sky did this, and I think we will consider this the new start of the trip.

Box Set

Jayne and I had decided to blow off work and talk about men in a way we never would have done when we were younger and more responsible. (Actually, our bosses had pre-approved the vacation time if not the conversation, but I like to think that after sensible teenage and young adult years, we still have a chance of turning into carefree middle aged rebels.) Jayne was sharing with me the surprise some people had expressed when they learned she was getting divorced and how that had opened her eyes to the compartmentalization in her life; in this case, that her marriage had been slowly deteriorating but she didn't talk about this with anyone - even close friends. I asked Jayne how many "boxes" she had. "5 - 1 for work, 1 for family, 1 specifically for my ex, 1 for Christian friends, and 1 for non-Christan friends." As she finished, I saw myself 6 months ago. I was having morning coffee with a friend and my phone beeped its daily 9 am reminder....

A Sudden Change of Direction: an Analogy of Dog and Life

There are times when you and Life are walking along, like good friends, and you think you know where you are going. You think that you and Life have agreed on a direction; that there is a plan; that you understand each other. And then Life decides that despite all the trees you have already visited, you really must see this new one. This tree is different from all the other trees and if you don't see it, you simply won't be the person you might be if you DO see it. And so Life changes direction. Except you don't notice. Because you talked about it. And there was this plan . And then you trip over Life. And Life LOOKS very indignant because you weren't paying attention and kneed her in the ribs. And you ARE very indignant because this is a stupid tree that you had no interest in ever seeing and you would chop it down and burn it if you could. Stupid tree. Stupid Life. Stupid little bits of gravel stuck in your palms. B...

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