The Long Road Home

They say it is good for one's brain health to take different routes, learn a new language, take up dancing, etc, etc. Last night I decided to be very brave and I took a new way home from my son's home.

"Take the new bridge!", he said after the opening of the new North Bridge in our fair city. "Why would I do that when I had a perfectly good route that was familiar, straight forward and time effective?", I quietly thought to myself.

Last night, I decided that turning right during rush hour traffic could save me time and frustration verses turning left, without a set of lights to make the job easy. "I'll take the new bridge," I thought. "It will be an adventure," I encouraged myself.

I drove north when I needed to go west. I drove and drove. Then drove some more. "Did I cross the river without realizing it? Was I out of the city? Would this road take me where I thought I should go?"

At no point did I find this enjoyable. I never felt lost but I was pretty sure this was not the most expedient way home.

At long last, I found the landmarks I expected to see. Along with those landmarks, came rush hour traffic. The logical way back into the city would be back logged with vehicles.

As I tried to find a logical reason why I was so far out of my way, I decided I could make a "quick" trip into Costco to make this detour worth my while. While I thought I was getting myself out of a must-turn-left lane, I found myself in a lane where making a left turn into the (very busy looking) Costco parking lot was an impossibility.

So I kept on going.

I was certain the road I was on would take me to the highway to Edmonton. I could detour outside the city and take the highway less travelled to get me back into home territory.

The road was long. I never come at this particular highway from an westward direction. I am always coming in from the east.

Roads less travelled feel like they take so much longer, without familiar sights to guide you. I was on a double lane highway, knowing I had to turn left. I just didn't know how soon this would happen so I stayed in the passing lane, while ensuring I wasn't holding up any traffic behind me.

Sweat was thinking about accumulating on my brow. I was not only out of my comfort zone, I felt like I may have slipped into another time zone due to the excessive mileage I was travelling.

Finally, finally, finally the signage appeared and I got to turn left and head home on my warm and familiar highway. I would have never guessed that this road would not come with an extended left-turn lane so I turned on my signal light well in advance of my turn. I looked in my rear view mirror and was relieved to see the car behind me yield to my need to slow down. I had made it this far. I didn't want to end up in an accident this close to my destination.

That worn, familiar highway never looked so good. But even it felt longer as I anxiously made my way towards home. They took down the signage at my street but thankfully I recognized it anyway. Another left turn and no one rear ended me on this highway either.

I drove 15 km's out of my way, took an extra 15 minutes to get home and forgot to relax and enjoy the view. This all started so I could avoid "turning left".

When my brain functions start slowing down and the experts remind me of all the ways I can exercise and rewire my brain, they may mention "taking new routes home" as a suggestion. I think I may try to learn Spanish instead.