A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE

One fall Bill and I were leaving Yellowstone National Park and were told the buffalo were congregating at the east exit.  I was so excited, because we were headed that direction and I love buffalo.  There was only one small glitch.  This meant we went out the northeast entrance instead of the east entrance.  The east entrance leads to a nice drive to Cody.  The northeast entrance ….  A couple of things you need to know.  Many areas out west do not have internet service.  The towns do, but not when you get on the back roads.  Back and side roads are closed by a determined date.  They do not wait for the snow to start before they close roads and stop service until next spring.

Bill asked, “Mary can we get to Cody if we go out the northeast entrance?  It isn’t like you haven’t seen buffalo today.”

Grabbing my iPad and the atlas (Yes, I still use an atlas.) I found where we were and where we wanted to go.  “Of course we can get to Cody.  The quickest road has been closed for the winter, but this other road is open.  No problem,” I replied.  We saw the buffalo and headed out the northeast entrance. 

As we drove, I kept checking the atlas and the iPad.  Bill was thrilled that the road was two lane and paved.  I honestly cannot remember the exact roads we took but we ended up on Wyoming 296/Chief Joseph Highway.  The iPad had lost service so I relied on the atlas.  It looked like there were a few curves, but nothing Bill would be uncomfortable driving.

After a while, I told Bill, “I think that is the last of the curves.  Looks like the road gets straighter.”  Then, out there in the middle of nowhere, the iPad had service.  I opened the map.  Enlarged the area we were approaching and gasped.  It all depends on your perspective.  From the atlas to the iPad, my perspective changed.  The atlas looked pretty good.  The iPad told a different story.  I remember telling Bill, “You know how I said we were out of the curves?”  A glare came from the person behind the wheel as he said, “And …”

I calmly told Bill, “You know how a child draws when they are learning to hold a pencil?  I believe they used one of those drawing to design this road.  We are not out of the curves.”

It all depends on your perspective.  The big picture looked good.  It was not until we got on that section of road that we realized how curvy it was. 

 

BUT, as I think about the roads we have been on, this one was a piece of cake.  Look at the Beartooth Highway.  We were on that one time.

A really interesting drive happened when we left Apache Junction. 

We started on a very nice, two lane, blacktopped road.  The two lanes turned into a wide, paved one lane.  The wide, paved, one lane turned into a narrow, dirt road.  A curvy!! dirt road.  What a blast we had.  Well, I was having a blast.  It all depends on your perspective.  Bill had a death grip on the steering wheel and, whenever we met other brave souls, he had to find a place to pull over so they could pass. 

  

Oh, memories.  Bill will tell you that I do not know how to find a nice, straight road to travel.  I tell him to loosen up and grab ahold of the wheel.  We are in for a ride!!!!!!

Besides – when I looked at the pictures in the atlas, the roads did not look so bad.  It was only when we got on the road that we realized it was not quite what we thought.

BUT isn’t this how we get off the path God has ready for us?  We are keeping on the path.  Having a jolly good time and then, right along the path is another way to go.  It looks really neat.  It is all tree lined and so inviting.  We cannot see very far down the way, but how bad can it be?  And when our perspective of the other way to go finally comes into focus, Satan laughs.

Moral of all this:  Be sure and have a true perspective of where you are headed.