I Live By the Helicopter

Every one who really knows me will tell you how wonderful I am with directions. I can maneuver myself across foreign cities with ease. I can tell you which way is north with my eyes closed. Feel free to laugh now. The truth is, I have always struggled a little with finding my way around.

For instance, there was the time I was in Junior High School. I spent most of my free time with my best friend, Carly. So, naturally, I invited her to come to my dad's house with me one day. Her mother was kind enough to offer to drive us (after Carly begged her). I insisted that I knew exactly how to get there. After all, it was only fifteen minutes away and I drove there about twice a week.

However, as soon as we got in the car, I realized that though I rode to my dad's house twice a week, I never really paid attention to where we were going. We simply began at my mom's house and ended at my dad's. I decided that I knew how to get there from the 'helicopter', but not from Carly's house (which was down the street from my mom's). The helicopter was located on an air force base in the middle of nowhere. But I didn't know it was an air force base at the time, I simply knew there was a helicopter.

To make a very long story short, we drove all around the city looking for a helicopter. After about an hour, we wound up at a store with a missile out front. I was exasperated! Did she really think I was that stupid that I wouldn't know what a helicopter was? Keep in mind I didn't know how to get to my own house. Anyway, for years after that my dad would lovingly remind me which way my room was, or give me step by step directions to the kitchen.

This last weekend, I once more felt as if I was that junior high girl who didn't know how to get to her house. I lived in Salt Lake City for 18 years. However, after only two years away, I had forgotten entirely how to get around. I was going to meet my family at Toys R Us on State Street. This was easy, right? I mean, State Street is a main road, I should have known exactly how to get there. So I jumped onto Redwood Road and started driving.

For those of you who don't know the Salt Lake Area, Redwood Road and State Street are parallel to each other. So I drove for awhile... ending up at the airport... grasping at air to figure out where I had gone wrong. This is why it is good that I live in a small town. I can't get too lost when it only takes five minutes to get from one side to the other.