Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road

It must have been good to be the King of England. For when his Majesty promptly declared that all of his lands and colonies should drive on the left hand side of the road his worlds simply folded to his wishes. He never had to worry whether he was doing the right thing at the time, his wishes were simply the right thing. I could only imagine that such unchecked power would be a dangerous thing. Hence now..for generations New Zealanders now drive on the left hand side of the road as a result. For us everyday folk who meander down our own roads it is not so easy to discern whether it is the right path or not. We cannot make our path right by simple command. We explore and feel the right path by heading down the road. If we should discover that it is the wrong path, fortunately there are many opportunities for a roundabout.

David and I have been able to hire a car and it has freed us from the traditional stops of the tourist circuits. I actually quite like like driving on the left hand side of the road. It's generally the same as driving in the states, however if you keep left you are usually "safe". The biggest adjustment is the fact that the turn signal is now on the right side of the wheel as opposed to the left. Just about every time I have gone to make a turn I have turned the wind shield whippers on instead of my turn signal. David has learned that its time to take a turn when the whippers come on. Speaking of David..he is much worse on getting a handle on driving on the left. In fact.. he is just about the worse driver I have encountered. Very Bad. Worse than bad. He drives like he is 75 years old bad. Like he slows down at every curve not matter what bad. Going constantly under the speed limit and being passed by everyone bad. Getting the finger on more than one occasion bad. Keeping the windshield whippers on even though it is not raining because he cant figure out how to turn them off and cant peel his eyes off the road bad. Like hitting side view mirrors on parked cars bad. Turning a 3 hour trip from Napier to Wellington into a 5.5 hour trip bad. Lets just say that I have taken to most of the driving and this is the last time I will ever rent a car with a Frenchman...

Being off the usual tourist routes has led me to think about a few things. By doing so we have removed ourselves from the stream of moving people that you meet..the people on the bus that go to the same place you do because everyone is caught in the same current. We are now moving under out own paddle. I think we often run under our own steam and direction in our everyday lives. To much so sometimes and I wonder if we miss out sometimes because we are blinded by our own need to drive a certain direction. Perhaps that is why we grow so old so quickly. We are so absorbed by our own direction that one day we wake up and we are old. Or maybe we drive ourselves against the current because its what we feel we do for whatever reason. Obligation. Occupation. The need to fill a void.

Perhaps its better to just follow the signs of the road and make the best decisions for turns when we can.. So instead of constantly writing about the random things that I am doing I would like to propose a question. Where does one draw the line between controlling what their path in life is and letting the path that has been given them reveal itself? Its a question I will come back to as I move forward on this journey. For now..I think its a good mix of both...or are we simply just driving down the wrong side of the road all the time?

Time, as wise as it is, always tells....