The Honeymoon is Over

I just got run off the road by a big white truck. Luckily, the baby and I were not hurt. I was driving up the mountain road to our house, as a truck was driving down. I had no place to pull off to allow him to pass. So, I slowed as best I could and TRIED to pull off as best I could, hitting a cement pillar/marker in the process. Better to hit the cement marker than to hit a truck head-on, right? It completely destroyed my front passenger side tire. The truck kept barrelling on. I tried to get home as best I could, but it sounded really bad. So, I found a place to pull-off up the road. I called the Embassy and they sent our mobile patrol guys to help me out. Thank goodness for mobile patrol. They changed my tire and got me home.

Yes, every tour we experience a "honeymoon period" where everything is new, exciting, interesting, fascinating and charming. I think when I am in a place for a short time, I tend to see the surface of life, but not until I get settled into life there do I really start scratching beneath that surface. And, then something happens, like a truck running me off the road, that's more a gash than a scratch. Now, I just need to remember that it is the surface, the gash and everything in between that are the true representation of the place, not any of them in isolation. When I reach that conclusion naturally, that's when I know I'm truly settled.