Mavis has taken me on many adventures. She and I met the day I left Colorado in my rear view mirror and headed for West Virginia and a whole new life. I didn’t realize how very much I needed her, till I stopped along the way and picked her up. Mavis is my GPS. She tells me, almost without fail, exactly where to turn. She lets me know in advance what lane I need to be in for the upcoming exit on strange turnpikes. She reassures me I am on the fastest route, and if not, she either lets me know how long we may face delay or in worst case scenarios…redirects me in a safer direction.

As we drove yesterday, heading from Historic St. Augustine to Tampa, we decided to turn Mavis off for a while and mosey down A1A…the old route that follows the ocean down the length of Florida. We passed incredible mansions and little beach houses…some no more than shacks, really. I let my mind wander to the kind of people one might find inside. It’s definitely spring down here so there were hundreds and hundreds of bikers riding up and down, parked outside old rundown watering holes and greasy spoons. Or those whose pristine hogs were strapped to trailers on the back of spendy pickup trucks…on their way down to the yearly right of testosterone display that is bike week.

The bougainvillea are breathtaking! You smell flowers and salty sea as you travel south in the succulence of spring. It’s dizzyingly decadent…as though you are biting into some forbidden fruit…the juices dripping from your chin and leaving you with a sense of satisfaction no mere apple could ever give. My heart explodes with joy, as it always does, when my eyes first meet the sea. We crack the windows, our companionable silence broken only by the cry of gulls and the rumble of a good Harley. Oh….there is nothing like the revelry of springtime abandon. Especially after the long, hard season we have seen. 

I cannot let myself obsess with others who eschew precautions and flaunt their maskless faces in the Florida sunshine. I understand their needs. I fear for their health and the health of the unprotected. We have done our parts…we have both vaccines on board. We always wear masks (double masks down here!) and we practice safe social distancing. And we pray for all the others…but mostly for the others who will have to take care of these reckless partiers.

As we get close to the Daytona Speedway, I brought Mavis back to life and she started directing me again….leading me in the right direction, keeping me safe. It made me smile, and reminded me….as much as Mavis does for my driving, God does for my life…as long as I keep Him plugged in and I listen to His directions. He is the GPS of my life…I’m just the copilot. He brought us safely to our cozy, clean hotel where we will stay till Thursday after the surgery. The bed is divine. I stretched out to rest for a bit, pulled up a coverlet, and was asleep in moments.

We are safely here.

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“Your word is a lamp that gives light wherever I walk.”

Psalms 119:105 CEV