K and I had driven from Saint Paul up to her cabin on the shore of Lake Superior - a fine old place, simple enough to make you reconsider that hyper-electronic life you and I are living with and through these days. We brought the three essentials for a short stay, namely whisky, Islay the scottish terrier, and grub.
We'd agree to meet some friends staying near Ely, Minnesota, the jumping off point for the hardy souls who install themselves in fully laden canoes and paddle to off to discover that what they thought they might discover would be overwhelmed by what they would, in fact, discover...like the three Princes of Serendip, from whose journeys, Horace Walpole coined the word "serendipity." You could look it up.
The road to Ely from the shore of Lake Superior takes off in nearly a straight line through magnificent woodlands, exposed timeless rock, and wonderful mysterious tracks into the woods, leading to what we'll never know. Some miles outside of Ely, the road narrows and begins to resemble a flat slalom course with twists and turns to beat the band.
After a good lunch and some meandering through shops in that interesting little town, we headed homewards, and just outside of town, we came upon a traffic sign - yellow, with black printing, reading -
SCATTERED BUMPS
We laughed and drove on, but that sign struck me as a wonderful metaphor for the lives which most of us live.
The bright and good times happen, and we are pleased when they do, but it's the scattered bumps and the way we manage them which may have more to do with the persons we ultimately become.
I don't want to beat this drum too hard, but in reflecting on some of the bumps in my life - I remember two in particular - it was the bumps which were far more significant in changing the course of my life than the various good times which befell me, almost by accident it seems.
This summer I hit that decade of life which begins with a "7," changed the composition of my business, moved offices, and it's been more than a stretch of scattered bumps. But after all these years, lucky fellow that I am, I know that things will smoothe out, and I can return to exploring the passions which have been part of my life for decades.
And I wish for us all, not much more than "scattered bumps" along the way.
