What's A Country Mile?

Hi and welcome to my brand new blog. I call it "By a Country Mile" because a country mile feels like a good metaphor for life.

 So, just what is a country mile?  What does this odd phrase, frequently heard in some circles, refer to?  Apparently, to “miss by a country mile” means that I have failed to hit a target by a distance great enough to seem like a mile.  Or, the phrase might refer to the fact that country roads are often winding and curvy; thus, to travel a mile as the crow flies might require traveling a greater distance in total on a country road than merely one mile. Basically, then, a country mile is a reference to a great distance covered, whether in achievements, in travels, in errors, or, metaphorically speaking, in life. 

 And life often is something like traveling on a country road, with all kinds of interesting sights and many unexpected twists and curves along the way.  Sometimes it seems I need a long time to reach my destination because of all the curves, detours, and distractions.  I may miss by a country mile in various endeavours in my life.  Similarly, I may need more time, effort, or distance to achieve some goals than I first anticipated.

 When I was a young girl my Dad would often load me and my five siblings into our old Country Squire station wagon for a drive into the local countryside.  There was never a specific destination when we set out; the goal was merely to explore and enjoy the countryside (and to get us all out of Mom’s hair for a while, I suspect).  So, as we covered many country miles, we never knew where we might end up and we discovered beautiful scenery we might not have seen otherwise, some great berry-picking spots, and beautiful out-of-the-way country lanes, all by chance.
 

Yes, on occasion we got lost and once or twice we wound up stuck on a road that wasn’t a road, or was covered in snow much deeper than it looked.  You could say at those times that we “missed by a country mile”.  But we children never felt afraid; after all, we knew Dad was in firm control and didn’t Dad know everything?  Hadn’t we always come out of sticky spots safely before?  Wasn’t the aim of exploring the countryside to have new experiences?  In the end, the mishaps became merely one more adventure to tell Mom about when we finally arrived home.  And none of us would have willingly missed those adventures, not for the world.

            
A country mile is a fitting metaphor for a life fully lived.  It implies the usual number of successes and failures.  This column will be about life, faith, relationships, goals, dreams, success and failure, love and laughter.  I invite you to join me in exploring this country road of life, where we’ll encounter our share of curves, twists, misses, and near misses. We’ll revel in beauty, ponder the mysterious, chuckle over the comic, and wonder over the uniqueness and strangeness of life, nature, faith, love, and relationships.  I’ll tell you stories, some funny and light-hearted, others more serious, and share some thoughts from my life, and who knows, some may strike a chord with something in your life.

I live in the country now, a place where my heart is happiest, and where I feel most inspired to write and reflect on this mysterious and beautiful journey we call life.  I invite you to meet me here as often as you can, as we explore this country mile.