It's All Uphill from Here...

   Pathways...all year I've mused on their message, their meaning for me.  Here on St. John I confronted them yet again.  This is the driveway at the B&B I'm staying at in Fish Bay.  Believe me when I say, ALL the roads and driveways on the island look like this!

   St. John, like most of the Caribbean islands are really volcanoes jutting out of the water. That is why you have to fly into St. Thomas and take a ferry to St. John.  You would have to take a helicopter if you wanted to fly to St. John.  Because St. John is such a small island, it has very little "flat" land.  It is like driving on a roller coaster!  You also have to drive on the left side but the cars have the steering wheel on the left as well all of which makes getting around on St. John a bit of a challenge to say the least.

   My friend, who owns the B&B, parks at the top so her guests don't have to walk up and down the drive.  It was my daily challenge and also my daily reminder of my creaky knees.  Each year it seems to get more and more difficult.

   You do what you have to do and even if it seems all "up hill from here", you go on.  Who knows what awaits you at the top...around the bend...or down the other side?  It is the question and the quest.

   It reminded me of my trek to the top of Mont St. Michel in France last year.  It seemed so daunting but you do it because it is a much greater emotional pain to not do it!  After all, pilgrimages have their element of physical strain and discomfort.  If it was easy it wouldn't be as meaningful and I've never been one to take the easy path.