I feel like this week has sort of been like a bad episode of a equally horrible game show... and I keep expecting an announcer to come out of the shadows and tell me what prize I have one...

will it be door number one ... or door number two... or the box that Carol is holding?

Not to say that there haven't been awesome moments... and generally... it has been fine. It's just every now and then... I feel like I am completely and utterly lost...

Like I have misplaced something really important and I can't remember where I've left it.

Realistically, I know that I have done things... but it feels as if there is so much to do yet...

and I can't help but feel occasionally like I am merely treading water.

That said... tonight I got to visit with a cousin that I really haven't known very well, but have the opportunity to get to know better now. It is amazing to me how alike we are in so many ways... having not had a whole lot of contact with each other over the years. One of those great mysteries I suppose...or perhaps there is more to genetics than most of us care to admit...

Today's ride was a brief one.... taken while my mom was busy with an appointment. I drove out Dingman Run Road... and made a couple odd turns onto other roads... just to go down some areas I had not seen before. Perhaps that is where we learn and experience the most... by taking side "roads" in life... just exploring... and being open to whatever lies ahead

... no matter if there is a "big prize" or not...

*photos by Elaine A. Russell