Wildflower Writes

Photo by  Derek Story  on  Unsplash Living in an area crisscrossed by railroad tracks, I hear train horns day and night. The long, mournful wail makes me smile, reminding me that there are people and things on their way to the far reaches of the continent, and they happen to be passing close by. Even though I’m settled in my cozy home or office, the trains are forever moving. Someone is traveling to a new destination for a fresh start, or to spend time with loved ones. Someone’s special order is on its way to surprise and delight, and it has to go through my city to get there. I’ve been on the other side, too. I’ve traveled by train, watching small towns zip by the windows, following rivers and seeing mountains approach in the distance. I’ve drifted off to the steady click-clack, click-clack of the wheels on the tracks. I’ve experienced the anticipation of the journey and arriving at my destination. Kay Warren writes in the book, Choose Joy , that “life is much more l...

I am an impatient driver.  If I see a utility or garbage truck slowing traffic, I immediately start thinking of an alternative route to get to my destination.  It may be out of my way, but hopefully I will save time by not waiting in line to bypass the roadblock.  There will always be obstacles to reaching your goals, and sometimes they will be unforeseen.  Sometimes you'll be able to plan an alternate path to get to where you are going.  Other times, you may have to be patient and wait it out.  Once in awhile, something major will come up, and you won't make it to where you were going.  You'll have to change your destination all together. For example, I'm working toward writing full-time.  However, I can't quit my full-time day job to pursue writing, because I don't have a surplus of cash, and it's pretty important that my children get to eat.  Sometimes, I get really frustrated with work issues, and I dread going in.  I read a Bibl...

I finally finished my work at 5:30, an hour and a half later than I had planned to leave the office. I was on my own for dinner. My husband had brilliantly and lovingly offered to take the children to Chuck E. Cheese for the evening. As I slid into the driver’s seat of my minivan and turned the key in the ignition, I tried to decide what to do. Eating at home would require cooking, and possibly grocery shopping. Wendy’s and Popeye’s were nearby, but a little old hat. By now I was pulling out of the parking lot and heading north. By the time I reached the end of the T-intersection, I thought maybe a barbecue sandwich at Dairy Queen would be the ticket. I headed east toward downtown. By the time I came to the first stop sign, I realized I didn’t really want any ice cream. I headed north. Was there an Arby’s on this side of town? No. Too bad. I needed caffeine, and a Jamocha shake would be perfect. Taco Bell always offers cheap, tasty food, and I could get one of those blue Mountain Dews…...

Pre-Mapquest, for those of you who don’t remember, finding an unknown address relied on memory, hastily written notes on a napkin or scrap of paper, or a hand-drawn map never made to scale. With Mapquest, or Google for you non-traditionalists, you could get step by step directions, and an accurate point by point map. With recent upgrades, you can map out up to 10 locations on one trip. You can avoid certain roads if you know they are under construction, or if you don’t like toll roads. Even with such fantastic technology, it’s still fallible. Mapquest relies on the information that it receives. It doesn’t always know about new roads or closed roads or flooding or changed street names. Sometimes, for one reason or another, it’s just plain wrong. I think the success people experience in life is decided largely by the set of directions they go by. Some people don’t have any direction. They just wander through life, letting detours and the influence of others determine whe...