A Blessing From the Road

The Canso Causeway links mainland Nova Scotia with Cape Breton Island 
(inspired by my recent one-woman road trip to visit a friend in Cape Breton; by oneself for three hours there and three hours back is plenty of thinking and observing time) 
Remember this, when you are clutching the wheel and riding the gas pedal and the brake,not sure whether to gear up or gear down,or maybe even flip on the hazard lights: 
You can drive when it’s foggy,when you can only see what is around you(the present)but you can’t see in the distance(the future)because you know it’s safeto believe the road will rise to meet youeven if you can’t see itIt will unfurl itself even as you are reach it 
Sometimes silence as you driveis soothingand surprisingOther times,you need to turn up the music
As Taylor Swift sings, “I’ve been having a hard time adjustingI had the shiniest wheelsNow they’re rusting” 
Remember this,behind that hovering fog is the lightburning away those misty dropletsto reveal a glimmer, a gleam,a beam, a beaconOf course, it reveals there are mountains to climb,and the road is never flat,never straight,and not always easy
And Taylor Swift sings,“Hell was the journey but it brought me heaven”
Even if your backseat is full of regrets and what-ifsand bitter recriminations,all three wrestling for their own seatbelt,even if you have to shout I’m going to stop this car – (although you won’t)Just roll down the windowsand let them fly out with the dirty napkinsstained with the words you say to yourself 
And Jann Arden sings,“These are the daysThere’s life in your soulAlthough your struggling to stay afloatWith nowhere on earth to go”
The signs are everywhere:Nova Scotia Strongand you are strong,a tank full of courage and sorrow,resilience and longingGrief is an asphalt ribbonstretching out ahead for years,controlled accessand always under construction
And Jann Arden sings, “There’s life in you yetAlthough you’re lost in the mire and the hateAnd the bitterness of losing your faithThere’s light in your eyesFull of hope and grace”
Because there are signs,if you keep your eyes open:Marshy Hope,and Be Prepared to Stop,and most wonderfully,Divided Highway Ends,and we all heave a sigh of reliefand honk our hornsas our shoulders detach from our ears,and we can hope again,even if the ground is wet and spongy. 
And Taylor Swift sings,“I had a marvelous time ruining everything” 
Yet these are the dayswhen the holy moments are found in the fogand the cloudless blue skyin the chitchat at the gas stationand the four-fingered waves on country roadswhere everyone thinks they know youin the six eagles soaring over the causewayin a slipstream between human and divineand your white knuckles ease on the wheeland you yield to the journeyas your spirit merges with the destination as a bridge from here to there
~ Sara Jewell