99 Red Mailboxes

At some point in life, I lost interest in driving on highways. I’ve always had a strong dislike for driving. There’s too much concentration involved and I’d rather be looking at houses on the side of the road or birds in the sky.

As I write this, I can see turkeys scampering into the woods from my office window. I live in a place that requires driving. I can’t just pop down to the corner and wait for the bus to come get me or take a few blocks to the subway for a quicker trip to my destination. Uber and rideshare barely exists here and the $10 ride in California is about $50 here. Moral of this story is that I do drive but I don’t love it.

I take the back roads as often as I can. I’m so thankful for my GPS because I often like to change course and explore a new road. I pass the same roads every day of my life and I never know where they go.

There is one road I recently took to get to a friend’s house that had a red mailbox labeled 99. If you’re into eighties music, you might recall the song 99 Red Balloons by NENA. I have to hope this is an ode to it.

I love finding little treasures like this on roads I might not have explored if I stayed on the path that the GPS initially mapped out. (There’s some sort of life lesson in here).

Sometimes my road exploring leads me down some creepy dirt roads, but don’t worry I’m often weary enough to both pay attention to the GPS and the road ahead to not just blindly follow the GPS. I’d rather not make a U-Turn into a lake or drive off a cliff. If you think I’m kidding, these things have happened!

Where are some places that your GPS has led you? What kind of treasures have you found along the way? Perhaps in driving or metaphorical driving.