Don’cha just hate it when roadblocks get in your way? Yup; me too.

Of course, a lot of times, all a roadblock does is make you try a little harder! I mean, what’s  a great sense of accomplishment – without at least a little adversity, right?

But… what if that’s not the lesson?

First, the Rains…

Not too long ago, we had a few really heavy rainstorms pass across the Houston area. I’m tellin’ ya; these babies turned into some real humdingers! How bad were they? Well, lemme put it like this: After about six hours of almost continuous, torrential rain, I bet more than a few folks were lookin’ out the window, checkin’ to see if there was an Ark nearby and ready to load up.

The heaviest rains came down around mid-afternoon, when it got so dark the streetlights came on. Then… it got even darker. In fact, I remember tryin’ to look out the window about 4 o’clock to see how things were goin’ – and wondering who painted it black! I’m not kiddin’ folks – it was dark – and we’re talkin’ “Jonah-inside-the-belly-of-a-whale” dark.

As with all things, though, the storms finally passed. Skies lightened up a bit (meaning you could see without a flashlight), the weather actually turned delightfully cool for a change, and folks did their best to pick up where they left off. Now there was a different problem to face: getting home!

The Long and Winding Road

See, it was a forgone conclusion that roads all over the area were probably pretty much flooded out. Sure enough, as soon as I turned on the car radio, my worst fears had been rather neatly confirmed; not only was the Interstate flooded (due to their design, an extremely rare occurrence), but side roads everywhere had standing water on ‘em, too. I silently groused because my usual 30-minute, 10-mile route home had just vanished like the remains of the day’s antiperspirant.

I’m tellin’ ya; finding a way home when the usual routes are all blocked is one heck of an exercise in creativity, ain’t it? I mean sure, there’s always those folks who, despite everything, are still locked into following their usual routes – even when they KNOW they’re blocked. But not me, Bubba; I’m not afraid to blaze new trails. He said.

I hauled out the ol’ trusty Key Map and quickly scanned it for little black lines heading in the general direction of my house. Unfortunately, there were fewer than I liked – not to mention that some, if not most, might actually be impassable – but whaddaya gonna do, right? After hearing from the radio the growing list of roads blocked by high water, I quickly came to the slightly disheartening conclusion that I’d probably have better luck just wingin’ it.

Truthfully – the drive home was pretty much everything I’d expected. Obstructions all over the place, pavements filled with twists and turns, thrills & chills – and that was just tryin’ to get outta the parking lot!

Pick a Direction, Any Direction

Once on the actual road, though, my plan (no, wait – lemme use sneer marks for that, i.e., my ‘plan’) was to at least try and stay within 90 degrees of my target direction; gradually working my way closer to home in somewhat “stair step” fashion. Twice, a road I was sure would get me through turned out to be blocked by hastily erected barricades. Both times, you couldn’t see the actual problem – they were usually out of sight around a bend in the road or something – but you had to assume they were there for a reason.

Halfway home, on a small, rather isolated two-lane country road, I suddenly realized an Awful Truth: I no idea where I was! (Notwithstanding my membership in the Manly Men’s Association, if there had been anybody around, I would have gladly stopped and asked ‘em, “Where the heck am I?”)  I briefly imagined myself travelling in endless, aimless circles, only to wind up out of gas, stuck on the side of the road, and left with no choice but chewing on my leather seat covers for sustenance while waiting for someone – anyone – to find my soon-to-be mummified remains.

Help From an Unexpected Resource

Just before I lost consciousness, though, a thought finally sneaked its way into my feverish forebrain like a tiny ray of light peeking through the ominously gathering fog: Maybe, I said to myself, I should try using the GPS built into my “smart” phone to find out where the heck I was! Well duh! Talk about your forehead-slapping moment. (Which is why my forehead is so flat. I’m tellin’ ya, it’s a hard to admit; but I think my cell phone is finally smarter than I am.)

I whipped my trusty phone out of its holster and fired up the locator app. Lo and behold, as the little circle on the map demonstrated, there I was! What’s more; I quickly discovered if I zoomed out a bit, I could even plot a course that might see me eventually restored to civilization. My heart leaped! No need to await the rescue squads (surely they had better things to do); all I had to do was go back a few hundred yards, turn right on this road, go that way a few miles…

You know how, when you get really close to a really important goal, you can almost smell it? Well, I could tell I was nearing paydirt! According to my trusty handheld map, there was only a mile or so left until connecting with another major artery I knew was clear and water-free (or so the radio claimed, at least). It was a heady feeling!

I almost hummed in anticipation. The road before me was straight and true, those vast expanses of standing water all around me were well below the road level, and the clouds even looked like they were starting to break up a bit. I began to feel like that lunch of several hours ago hadn’t been my last meal, and a continued Earthly existence was slightly more assured than it had been shortly before.

Not Just “No”, but “NO!”

Unfortunately (isn’t it sad how many happy endings are interrupted by that word?), after turning onto what should have been my last back road, I scanned ahead and dimly made out, far ahead, something unwelcome in the distance. Closer, and it resolved itself into yet another barrier across the road! Shoot! Alas and darn!

As you can see from the photo above, the road eventually disappeared under a tremendous sheet of water. It called a halt to my progress as eloquently as if there’d been a sign proclaiming: ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE, leaving me frantically pushing the “locate” button on my phone, hoping all was not, indeed, truly lost.

As luck would have it, there was another road back a little ways; one I hadn’t noticed as I passed. Well, nothing ventured…, I thought to myself, and turned back to follow it. Truthfully, though, after so many disappointments, my hopes were not exactly high.

To my surprise, though, it led me, albeit with a few more twists and turns, to yet another road paralleling the blocked one I had just left. And best of all, following it led me right to that main artery I’d mentioned earlier! Halleluiah; I was saved!

Home At Last!

As you can see, I managed to survive the truly horrendous ordeal (!) of an excruciatingly convoluted drive home and lived to blog again. (Otherwise, I’d just be a… ghost writer? Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Sorry.)

Total elapsed time for what is normally a 30-minute trip home: about two hours. Distance traveled? Who knows? One day I’ll map it out and see. Then again, maybe not; might find out I coulda driven to someplace like Mars quicker.

5 Things I Learned From Driving Around in Circles

Anyhoo – reflecting upon this *cough*cough* wonderful experience, there’s actually quite a few good lessons to be learned about life, the universe, and everything. (That should come as no surprise to you, right? After all, that’s what we do here.)

Here’s a quick list of 5:

• It’s Gonna Rain – Yup; that there is whatcha might call a truism, ain’t it? And while lotsa folks talk about the weather, when you get right down to it, no one can really do anything about it. As in life, you might as well get used to the fact that no matter where you are – or for that matter, who you are – a little rain’s gonna fall. One major problem we all face these days – especially when things seem to be goin’ good and we’re facing little opposition in our day-to-day endeavors – it becomes easy to forget how to deal with a little adversity. Yep; we need to stay on our toes pretty much all the time, y’know? After all, you might just have a rainstorm on its way right this minute. Are you as ready as you CAN be?
• “The Usual” Won’t Always Work Any More – Like my normal route home that had been suddenly turned upside down, in today’s world, hardly anything is like it used to be! It’s aggravating, but there it is: in everything we do, from job-hunting to sales, we’re faced with learning new ways of doing the same old things – if we want to survive, that is. The best way to handle it? Well, I’ve read plenty of good articles about that very subject (and I’m sure you have too), but lemme make it easy for ya and sum ‘em all up in just one word: Learn! Yep; that one word pretty much says it all, don’t it? Oh, and ya better learn fast, too. Just sayin’.
• Pick a Direction – You might as well expect it: every now and then, you’re gonna find yourself completely flamboozled. You know what I mean, right? That’s when adversity raises it’s oh-so-ugly head, all the usual things don’t work anymore, and you’re wondering just what the heck is the right choice, anyway. Hey, it happens to all of us, sooner or later. You know what the best thing to do is? Yup; you pick a direction and start movin’! Oh, I could probably regale you with several platitudes that illustrate the topic nicely, but instead I’ll credit you with already knowin’ what I’m talkin’ about.
• Ask for Help – Ah, pride! It’s amazing how many of us simply won’t ask for help when it’s obvious we can’t figure something out on our own. Instead, we continue to beat our heads against a wall, hoping something’s gonna change, when in fact the thing that needs changing is… us! I’ve been there more times than I can count, y’all, and to tell you the honest truth, it is hard to ask for help. But the rest of the story is that help is out there, just waitin’ for us to ask! It’s true. Try it if you don’t believe me. Over the years, I’ve become less and less hesitant to let folks know when a situation is looming over me. Don’t think of it as an admission of failure (remember, those who never fail have never tried anything worthwhile); instead, think of it as an opportunity to learn.
• No Sometimes Actually Means NO! – You’ve all heard the same things I have – that anything we set out to accomplish is possible. But the truth is, there may be some things that just aren’t possible, no matter how badly you want ‘em. I mean, I grew up wanting to be a spaceman (not an astronaut, mind you, but a spaceman), but at my age I’ve come to realize the hard truth: that particular ship has finally, y’know, sailed. So what do you do? Why, choose something else! There are still plenty of opportunities if you just take the time to look for ‘em; opportunities you may have missed for the simple reason you were focused on something else. Hey, maybe it’s time to take a second look? Maybe that “no” really means, “try something else”.

What About You?

The fact is, you can make it through tough times just fine, thank you very much, if you’ll just keep these five lesson in mind. Yes, I know; nobody knows the trouble you seen, right? Well, maybe so. But the truth is, what you face isn’t so unique. Not that it ain’t tough, mind you; just not unique.

So if you’ve been playing tag with adversity lately, take heart!

Hey, it happens to everyone, sooner or later. Learn to roll something new from it. Pick a direction and see where it leads, why don’cha? Remember, there’s a world of folks out there with the experience to help you through it – if you’ll just ask. Besides, with a little creative thinkin’, you may just find out that what you wanted wasn’t the best thing after all – and there’s actually something better waiting for ya!

I’m just sayin’.

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Photo: Roadblock! by Robert Hruzek

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