My ride home from work is usually a frantic, anger filled journey. Driven mostly on a busy highway, I encounter people driving under the speed limit in the right lane and people driving light speed in the left lane. It’s a tricky maneuver to get around the slow people while not getting smashed by the fast people. You have people who like to play games with you. They are riding behind you and decide to pass you. They get in front of you and slow down. Why? Then there are the people in the left lane just poking along at a fun 50mph. A line a traffic waits behind them, trying to push them out of the way. I don’t see scenery, I see people out to get me, to beat me to my destination, to thwart my plans of getting home fast.

It is the start of beach season here so that means a Friday evening ride home just became even more complicated. All I see is out of state license plates, they think they own the rode. Traffic jams at every light, sometimes for miles. So on Fridays during Summer I take back roads home. Yesterday was my first Friday this season taking the back roads home. I drove leisurely, admiring how green the lawns are. There are a few twisty, turny roads that some people would take at a fast speed just to show they are an ace driver. I took them all very slow, watching some old men fishing at a lake. One waved as I drove by. At one turn the road is in shadow from the over hanging trees. I wanted to stop there and just see the beauty of nature. For a long time I was the only car on the road. I had some good music playing, sang along to the ones I knew and laughed at bad my singing is. As I drove I said thank you. Thank you for showing me it’s okay to slow down and watch the scenery. It’s okayto breathe deeply and be amazed at wildflowers growing along side the road. For the first time in a very long time, I felt peace. Peace that goes deep into your soul and reminded me of a favorite church song. It is well with my soul. Indeed! I had no worries, I wasn’t mad, I felt detached from myself. Peace! A winding trip home turned into a soul refreshing encounter with nature.