Bumps in the Road

As many of you may know, we had to travel to a nearby city last week to take Mark to see an orthopedic doctor because of a shoulder injury caused by a skiing accident. The hospital experience was a great one, and Mark is on the road to recovery.

This blog is devoted to driving in the country in which we live. You must understand that while there are traffic laws here, they are very loosely enforced. Driving is really a defensive sport! There is always road construction going on between here and wherever "there" may be. Sometimes there is heavy fog. Sometimes there are road signs that don't make sense to us, so we have to guess at what they mean. Often there are quite impatient drivers who pass on blind curves or just "make a lane for themselves" if there's no other way around. And there are ALWAYS bumps, bumps, and more bumps in the road!!!!

Before heading out to the hospital, I remembered to get the camera. I planned to take a picture of one specific place on the trip there. It's absolutely gorgeous, and I've wanted a picture since the first time we drove past it. We finally arrived at THE place. I got the camera turned on and zoomed in. And wouldn't you know - the bumps in the road got worse at that very moment!!! Keep in mind that I was aiming for a place of worship that sits on the hill in the middle of the village, with the village that surrounds it. Also remember that I was sitting in the passenger's seat taking the picture through the windshield on the other side of the road. The following pictures show what I ended up with after focusing in very carefully on the previously mentioned target.

my first attempt

my second attempt

my third attempt - close but not exactly what I was going for

We realized that we were about to miss our opportunity, so Mark took the camera, rolled down his window, zoomed, focused, and snapped a picture himself. This is what we got after several more bumps on the road!!!

nice looking bright blue apartment building, huh?

On the way home, as we approached the village, I decided to give it one more try. I rolled down my window despite the freezing cold wind and just started snapping pictures as fast as I could. Finally, I got what I was looking for.

Ahhhh . . . isn't that beautiful?!

I've found myself really missing the wide, open spaces and peace and quiet of our most recent home. I used to sit on the back porch and read often, even when the air smelled of turkeys and cows! Here, we get wide, open spaces only when we travel from city to city. And this picture is only a glimpse of the views those trips provide. It's more and more beautiful to me each time we drive through the country. It reminds me so much of home, yet it's still so different. I'm grateful that my Father uses the beauty of His creation to renew my spirits and gives me the opportunity to breathe clean, fresh air every now and then!!