The Next Exit

Saturday found us rolling down highway I-75 toward Anna Maria Island in Florida. The landscape has changed from budding trees to full blown tree foliage; from a chilly wind to shorts and sandals, and "the wages of sin are death" to "adult superstore ahead"! Whew. Every exit we anticipate what is next - the next fast food outlet - a quick rest area stop or a pecan fix at Stuckey's and of course Rip's favourite - Flying J's for gas (he has a discount card with a real value of several cents on a gas fill up - can't be beat! It is a dream gas station with internet, lounge chairs in front of a megga screen TV and - if you need a pick-me-up- showers! Twice we have gotten gas at some other stop and then the next exit was a Flying J's and you must have heard Rip's groan clear to Ontario. It appears our GPS has limits.

Okay there is a solution. Believe it or not, we found a book called, "The Next Exit", which lists all the stops on major highways in the US and what gas, food and accommodation we might find- so no more guessing games or watching the gas needle drop into the red zone in hopes of "the next stop".

It's so true of life, isn't it, that we are keen to know exactly what is ahead and spend a lot of time anticipating the next move and thinking about the future instead of living in the present moment. Along the highway, when we are not possessing about "the next exit", we are singing the songs of "Joseph" and munching Picard's peanuts and savouring each new scene.

Sabbatical time allows such a delightful refocus of "being" - the hours fly by and we have arrived at our friends and neighbour's (Bettejane and Larry) beautiful condo by the beach - you can smell the sea and after 15 hours of driving we are very glad to have arrived at "the next exit"!