Barrie the bird and never getting lost

 I HAVE A habit of making wrong turns and getting lost. It's inherited from my late mother, God bless her. My internal GPS has wires plugged into wrong circuits. 

I'm trying to get better at not getting lost, thanks to a simple yet thoughtful gift from a Lab Brat. And it's already helping me with road rage. Win win!

Last Saturday I went to St. Louis with a couple of other Lab Brats and I turned east instead of west to get back on the highway. Then I turned off on the wrong exit near Troy. We ended up going around a brand new roundabout and careened back down the exit to the highway - it was amazing and you gotta look at the bright side of the directionally-challenged thing.

Monday, my friend Jennifer Henthorn, who works at the main 11th Street lab at Blessing, gave me a bird made out of paper. It's called origami, the Japanese art of folding a single piece of paper into an object. This thing is way cool and I've put it on the front dashboard of my work vehicle. There's no way I'll ever get lost and the bird, named Barrie, will guide me and keep me from losing my marbles when dealing with the usual crazies on the road.

Barrie is amazing. Jennifer shrugged it off by saying "I've made them since fourth grade and this is the only thing I know how to make." It's the simple things and gestures that count and this one is huge.

He is named Barrie in honor of the city north of Toronto where Canadian relatives live. They need to know we aren't all ignorant bullies.

Barrie just seems to be a calming influence. Yesterday I got cut off by a pickup truck on U.S. 61 near Palmyra. Normally I scream and curse and get bent. But with Barrie leading the way, I kept the cursing volume low and got over it quickly. See? I'm trying harder to be a light, and Barrie is helping.

With a new bridge by Mo. 6 being built and roads closing left and right in Quincy, I'm gonna need  patience. Now there are signs indicating construction on I-172 near the Hannibal exit, so Barrie will help me find the best way and deal with single highway lanes and semi-trucks changing lanes at will.

Thanks you Jenny! Barrie is a welcome addition to lab courier adventures and will help me keep it between the lines. Even when getting cut off.