You May Find Yourself...You May Ask Yourself

"You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack. You may find yourself in another part of the world.
You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile. You may find yourself in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife. You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?

This Talking Heads' song, "Once in a lifetime," was running through my head in the early evening as I searched for Locktown Road in Flemington, New Jersey.

You may find yourself searching for this road. You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile. If you find yourself searching for this road: don’t bother using Google maps to make your way through the quaint river towns north of Trenton.

Know that there is not one, but at least three separate roads in Hunterdon County all bearing the name Locktown Road. There is Locktown-Flemington Road, and the Locktown-Sergeantsville Road, which connect to one another but not to the actual Locktown Road you are looking for.

Know these first two roads are virtually indistinguishable from the third: all wind their way through farmland of breathtaking beauty.

You may find yourself in another part of the world. You may ask yourself: well, how did I get here?

Know that when you call your son’s cycling coach he won’t understand where you are or how you can get to where you need to be because, he will explain, there really is no address per se on where tonight’s team time trails are happening.

But then you get yourself to the Shell Station on Route 12 because he did say something about Route 12, right? Call  the coach again and this time he will know where you are and be two minutes behind you in a Subaru wagon with three teenagers inside and four bicycles on top and he will get you and your son and the most beloved of his four cycles to where you need to be.

You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here? And really, you will have no idea. But that is all right. When you get where ever it is you to need to be, take a walk.

Breathe in the Beauty of the gravel road, the rectangular haystacks, the evening sky, the sound of a dog in the distance and your footsteps.

Understand once again: “The Lord has given us a maestro to follow; the Lord has placed him on the road He has placed us on, on the road we are travelling.” (Julian Carrón)