I started physical therapy this morning to strengthen my shoulders. Years ago I had an issue with my right rotator cuff, and did PT in an effort to avoid surgery. It worked. Lately I have noticed the same pain in both my shoulders so I asked my Nurse Practitioner for a script to start PT.

I’m scheduled for four appointments, 2 this week and 2 next week, all at 7 a.m., at a physical therapy place about 6 miles away from home. Should be easy. But as we all know….

The state of Michigan is working on the freeways around here, and all 3 of the nearby entrance ramps, going north or south, are closed. So when I left home at 6:40 to go the 6 miles to my 7 a.m. appointment I shouldn’t have been shocked to see all the surface streets bumper to bumper.

But I was.

What was I thinking? I’d forgotten about how awful commuting is around here, especially when the freeway is essentially closed. I’ll spare you the gory details but I was 15 minutes late for my first PT appointment.

After my workout, in an effort to find a more strategic route before Wednesday’s appointment, I drove around in ever expanding circles, trying to find a way onto the freeway. Eventually it was obvious that wasn’t going to work. The freeway is not an option. (I guess thousands of commuters had already come to that conclusion, hence my morning.)

I headed home, down a dirt road I rarely travel, through farms and woods, with little traffic. Which was good because I had to come to a dead stop to avoid running over a bunny rabbit skipping across the road in front of me. And shortly after that, at eye level on a tree right next to the road was a male pileated woodpecker with most of his face inside a tree. If I’d been in my passenger seat I’d have been able to reach out and touch him. He was so focused he didn’t move as I drove slowly by wishing for my camera. And as I drove up the last bit of dirt road, close to home I had to stop again as a muskrat ambled from one swampy area and across the road to another.

If I hadn’t been late to my PT and attempting to find a better route I’d never have seen the rabbit, the woodpecker or the muskrat. The combination of all three made me forget my morning commute frustrations. I’m still smiling.

I don’t have photos, but I know you have a sense of imagination…so I’ll leave it to you to picture it all. And later today I’ll go out and figure out a better way to get to that next appointment, but it feels like I’m going to have to leave home at 6 a.m. to make it on time.