For some reason…. 😊

There are 70 different primary interstate highways; major arteries of traffic connecting various cities. Interesting how some smaller cities were chosen to have interstates go through them only to miss others.

Of course no one can properly plan how large some cities will grow in the 60-70 years since construction began.

Very organized system. One out of every three miles is straight, to make sure there’s always a potential runway available in the event Air Force needs one.

Primary interstates have either one or two digits. Odd numbered interstates run north-south, even numbered run east-west.

The further south and west you go the more likely they are to be lower in number. The higher numbers are in the north and east.

Primary interstates ending in 5 run down the coasts. Those that are multiples of 10 run east west along the borders of Canada and Mexico.

Connecting to the primary interstates are the 323 auxiliary interstates. Bypasses, Spurs, loops, connections to nearby cities, you name it. Doesn’t matter which way they go or where they are, they’re almost always one number followed by the designation of their parent interstate.

Someone at the old Department of transportation must’ve had a sense of humor because in Columbia, SC along with a few other cities, the three Interstates I-20 (to Atlanta), I-26 (to Asheville, NC), and I-77 (to Charlotte) all form a loop around the city, each intersecting with the other creating a circle about 20 miles in diameter around Columbia.

So there’s no need for an auxiliary three digit interstate number around Columbia per se. Yet there still is one. Leading directly out of Columbia to the Northeast: I-277. No doubt named that because it leads To 77.

I-26 is a straight shot from Columbia to Charleston. Crosses I-95 for everybody going north-south from the tip of Maine to Key West, FL and it’s auxiliary, I-526 which forms a loop around Charleston.

Take I-26 from Charleston to Columbia to meet I-77, and that will take you all the way to Cleveland. Take it to meet I-20 and you travel all the way across the south and into western Texas, paralleling I-40 from the North Carolina coast to the Mojave desert, and I-10 from Jacksonville to LA. Or just stay on I-26 for a boring trip to the VA/TN border. Well, boring for all but the folks who consider cars turning left at high-speed a sport.

Straight shots are always interesting. Where does this road go? When you think about a journey, you think about the primary interstates. You don’t usually think about the 3 digit auxiliary highways until you get around the city you’re going to.

It’s rare that that road takes you exactly where you want to go. Interesting because you say it and you might even think it. If you want to go to Charleston from anywhere not along the coast, I-26 is in your future, unless you try to avoid it. It’s not like someone usually cares what number a road is. But that’s the thing about roads. Sometimes someone just gets on one that they swear by.

You and I-26 are old companions. 110 miles between Charleston and Columbia and you went back-and-forth every single week. You know it by heart. Seems so odd that there is now a new exit 197; first change in decades to that stretch. Lots of people moving here. Yay.

It’s not like at sea. You make your own roads at sea. You have a lot more freedom, but it’s up to you the plot the right course on your own. Really would be nice if that’s the way it was going through life.

Have your speed in bearing, and plot your course as you see fit. When you get near your destination, you have to account for the sea traffic, but you can just alter the course you’ve set to get into port. Into your destination.

Not like that on roads. You don’t have a course of your own. A lot harder to get lost, but if your priority is staying on a road, most of the time you’re not gonna end up where you want.

You can love I-26, and it used to lead home – all the way straight into downtown Charleston. You miss those days sometimes. Well, often. But you’re better off these days. Have your priorities a lot more in order.

That means when you’re coming in on I-26, you’ve got to turn onto I-526 to get home. Much as you loved those days and that road, you’re too old for studio apartments, sky high rent, and trips to the laundry.

I-26 is your road, man. And yeah it’ll take you most of the way if you’re coming from Columbia. But what’s the goal? Downtown? The past? Again? No. The goal is to get home. Which means getting on I-526 and heading into the suburbs.

You can’t prioritize the road over the destination. No matter how important it might be to you. How comfortable. If demanding to go somewhere your way is the priority, you’ll never get where you want to go.

Doesn’t matter how much it might make sense to you. It’s not the way hone. You’ve tried.

It’s that way that seems annoying. Whole bunch of jackasses claim to go that way but you know they’re stuck going in circles, all the while judging you for not following them.

But when you know the way home. And when you have tried making up your own ways of getting there and failing. Going down gravel roads that tear up your car. Or insisting you know better because you want to…

At a certain point… choose. Pick a path you like that you feel gives you everything you want…

Or stop making it about you… and make it about home.

Enjoy your day off, barbecue, and the kids’ time at the pool.

It’s all around us. We just have to look.

But if you can’t find it… Be It.

They got married 47 years today. That’s a long time to be happy. Sharing the adventure of life with the person you care about most in it. Going places, building things together, you name it.

Heading to Saint Simons and Hilton Head Islands for the anniversary, somewhat mirroring their honeymoon going down the coast. Finally both now fully retired and in the clubhouse. After lifetimes of living frugally and investing for the future, they are settling in for what he refers to as “the duration”. Which is always followed by her rolling her eyes. They mess with each other like that. She’s always young at heart, and he always enjoys joking with her when he sees a nice nursing home.

They’ll never have grandkids. Amazing that they’re more fine with that that you are. They’re fine with anything when it comes to you being happy. And since you have made peace with that so have they. Kindness the likes of which few deserve. She even told you that she thought about buying a necklace for Crow because she knew she would like it. Beads and something white in the front you’re glad you forgot..

There’s a lot of things you’re not going to have. A 47th anniversary is one of them. And the strange thing is that’s fine. They deserve that; you don’t. And there’s actually nothing wrong with that.

Because they were once your age with a 13-year-old son and they didn’t deserve it then either. That’s got to be earned. Earned with love, Sharing the adventure of life, hard work, and as both of them would say: each giving 90%. Sounds crazy but it works. Neither one of them settled.

You don’t need to have 47 years. You don’t need to have children. When it comes to finding the one that’s meant for you, you just need God. You see His light shining through them. Just two kind, sweet, ridiculously simple people – who would see ‘simple’ as a complement.

Life is an adventure if you have the right partner in your life. They even used to move every seven years or so. As he earned more he could give her nicer places. But they would’ve moved regardless. Just fun mixing stuff upon occasion. And why not?

Why not live a life of optimism? Joy? Adventure? Even if the adventure is going to the other side of town to look at houses under construction if you’re both into that?

Why not? A really good question to ask a lot more often than you do. 🤔

Sure a heck of a lot better than the alternative.

Yeah match is a disaster. What else would you expect until you can get in better shape? Seven pounds is a good start; nothing more. Work is going better. Books are coming back up in and going out well thanks to the folks. Have to figure out QuickBooks and the video conversion stuff. Bottom line is things are getting better, slowly but surely. Still don’t know what to say you do for a living, but it’s getting better.

The profile’s out of date, but you’re not changing anything for now. You were in a good place when you started it so just keep it there for now.

You occasionally get takers but no one you’re interested in. A few shots in the dark, but no one you liked seemed to have much interest. And then L. She ‘liked’ you and even started a convo with “hi!” just like a bunch of others, but you looked at that profile and it had ‘fake’ all over it. Late 30s, attractive redhead, in great shape. Pretty smile. Just wanted to get out and socialize apparently. Christian/other and conservative. Not much else under interests. Pictures were beautiful. A little too convenient. No way it was real.

Ignored her for a while. Took another look. Whoever found the pictures and was using them did well. And then you thought for a second that 20 years ago this would never even occurred to you; why weren’t you as confident as you were then?

Why not just see? You took screenshots of the pictures and did reverse image searches just to see where they came from. Zero results. For either one. Wow. She was real.

”Greetings! How are you?” and….. she vanishes. No conversation, no nothing. You have no idea how the site works but apparently you were blocked. Like, then message, then blocked when you responded. Hmmm. Certainly not the first time that’s happened. But hey, a possibility.

The funny thing is you weren’t actually even really disappointed. But she was real. That’s what matters. And if you keep working on yourself, it actually may lead to daylight with someone. You really don’t need to feel as insecure. Don’t stop working on improving yourself. But things might not be as bad in that area as you thought they were.

Crow told you not to mess with match. It’s not like you want to; there’s really just not much else for finding people. Rings are everywhere else. Have been for years.

The key is Him. Who He wants you to be with. He’s ultimately the source of love and happiness in your life. Terrifying though isn’t it? You don’t even know what that means. Could’ve sworn it was leading somewhere for a long time and… yeah. But that’s really your fault; not His.

But maybe you’re not as bad off as you thought. Just keep improving. Walking more. Eating better. Figure out the latest sleep crisis. You have to. Because your mind isn’t into it right now; you’re not even really interested in dating. Which means now’s the time. That’s just the way life is. Fight your tendencies.

Time Squared.