The image of the road is often used in literature for a great number of things. The metaphorical description of a road as life itself is, perhaps, the most common: we've all heard that one, I'm sure. The other day, while getting completely lost on the way to the Cotillion (and also while getting completely lost on the way back from the Cotillion), I was giving this some thought.

Whether they admit it or not, everyone goes through life looking for someone else whom they can be happy with. I don't think this can be disputed. The problem, of course, is that most people don't know exactly what they want in the other person, or they've confused what they think they want with what they really need. I see this all the time, as my readers no doubt have. How many times have you heard friends say "she's no good for him," or some variation of that? The outsider seems more of the game, you might say; and while these kinds of friend-judgments are far from perfect, they're usually more true than false.

If we're going somewhere, we generally want directions. Sometimes the directions are vague: go west. Well, how? There are so many roads west. Do I take the highway? Do I take back roads? Do I take the turnpike? How do I know which is best? Sure, people will tell you one is better than the other, but such accounts only inform you of what that person knows about the given road. Maybe they've only driven it once...maybe there's construction...maybe the traffic gets terrible late. Lots of roads have hidden dangers.

Obviously, the right road can only be found by trying a lot of the wrong ones, and surviving them. It also helps to be a seasoned driver, which of course also necessitates experience. That being said, there are some people who are great drivers from the get-go and function just as well behind the wheel as someone with half a decade on them. Good, clear, well-lit roads are, in the end, the ones you want to find, and it certainly helps if the other people on those roads are fine drivers. Maybe, eventually, instead of driving parallel to one another, or coming and going in passing, you may end up in the same car, going in the same direction, and going to the same place. Who knows? All I can say is when you find a good road and good drivers, you know it, and the fact that you know it means you, too, are yourself something of a good driver.

I probably bungled the metaphor there (I didn't get home until five in the morning), but you probably get the idea. Sometimes, against all odds--and oftentimes after so many wrong turns--we find the rare roads, and the even more rare drivers, who make driving worthwhile, and getting lost fun.