Sooner Rather Than Later

Saturday, I went to a writer's seminar down in Denver. It's about a 65 mile trip back to Estes.
I had to go through Boulder, which has pretty heavy traffic.
I was tired and annoyed by traffic lights and just wanted to get home as quickly as possible.
But I needed gas pretty soon.

I could have stopped at the Conoco on the main drag.
But it would be so much easier to get gas once I got into Estes.
I didn't feel like getting out of my car.
And I was tired.
And the gas is cheaper up the hill.

The way up highway 36 was clogged with slow-moving RVs and I gritted my teeth at the 35 mile per hour pace.

Once I reached Estes I noticed that traffic was especially heavy. I thought, it must be the rodeo that's brought extra out-of-towners and tourists. It's crowded enough during the summer months because of all the tourists coming to visit Rocky Mountain National Park.
 I proceeded to the gas station on Highway 34 and filled up.

But getting out of the gas station proved impossible.
Drivers coming west on 34 were so anxious to get through the intersection of 34 and 36 that they pulled up bumper to bumper and blocked all the business entrances.

Getting over three lanes so I could turn toward home was going to be impossible.

I glanced to the east. An unending stream of cars extended beyond view.
Maybe I could back up and take another route.
Nope. Three cars had pulled up behind me.
They were probably hoping I'd pull out and just shove my way into the thick of cars.
But when traffic is backed up the way it was that evening, you don't mess with peoples' good will.
It's in short supply.

I felt my blood pressure rise. My stomach knotted. My breathing turned shallow.
I tried to calm myself, but the primitive part of my brain was screaming, "You're trapped!"
A free spot opened in the right turn only lane.
I took it. Better to be on the road even if it's not the right road.

I drove way up the hill, beyond the Stanley Hotel, made a legal u-turn and got myself in the right direction.
Getting home should have taken me four minutes.  It took over twenty.

Okay, so it wasn't the worst crisis a body can face.
But all of this could have been avoided if I'd simply gotten my gas down the hill in Boulder.

I guess the moral of my story would be this: since you don't know what's up ahead, you may as well take care of essential business now, when it's do-able.

The Word of God seems to agree with this moral:
"Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well." (Ecc. 10:6 NIV Bible)