When I boarded the plane in Cleveland on February 29th, the first leg of our trip to Big Sky MT, I never thought a curvy road cut through a canyon of rock would teach me something about how to deal with what I would be facing a month later.
Our connecting flight from Minneapolis arrived in Bozeman at 9:35 MST, one of the last inbound flights for the evening. Because our Eastern Standard Time biological clocks were telling us 11:30pm, we stayed the night in Bozeman and planned the drive to Big Sky for the following day.
From the Bozeman Airport, it’s a 52 mile drive south to Big Sky on US 191, a major north south highway connecting the Rocky Mountain states to Mexico to Canada. Traveling south from Bozeman, there is a great sense of the vastness to this land called big sky. The valley floor goes on for miles and you can see as far the eye can see. The land is rimmed with snow-capped mountain peaks visible miles away. If this is your first time here, you definitely feel like you’ve arrived in a special place, where the land is eternal, vast, rugged and embracing.
If you are headed south from Bozeman, you’ll pass a lot of new development – both residential and commercial - on both sides of the two lane highway. A notable historical place you’ll pass along the way is the Gallatin Gateway, the popular railroad stop for travelers headed to Yellowstone Park. This is where passengers would group, spend the night, and in the morning load their trunks and such, ready for the drive south.
Once passed Gallatin Gateway, the terrain quickly changes and you feel like you are being engulfed by the mountains on both sides. What was a poker straight road for 14 miles has now become a treacherous two lane highway that snakes through the Gallatin Canyon between the high peaks. Add winter conditions and it can be a harrowing drive. For many people working in Big Sky, welcome to their daily commute.
We’ve been visiting Big Sky for years and I’ve never become accustomed to the drive. With each year we visit, I know the road a little better but it remains my least favorite part of visiting the area. As we were driving the canyon road in winter conditions back to Bozeman for our flight home, I learned an important life lesson from that twisty two lane road that would help me keep a good perspective in the weeks to come.
Responsibility is an individual duty
In everything we do, we have an individual responsibility. When individual responsibility is collected and combined with others, we create a working and responsible society.
In the case of roadways, if you want to get a drivers license, there is a system in place that requires citizens to study, practice and be tested. As licensed drivers, the responsibility is ours to follow the signs, obey the laws and enjoy the privilege of having our own independent mode of transportation.
On the road and in life - Watch for signs that advise you on the best speed for the road ahead. Watch for signs that warn of upcoming hazards. (Best example that comes to mind - the sign on I90 headed into downtown Cleveland that warns of a 90 degree turn. ) Be patient with other drivers. Stay in your lane; pass responsibly where it is safe to do so.
Sometimes on Highways 191, you’ll find a driver who is driving at a slow rate of speed; this can be as much of a hazard as driving too fast. Perhaps this driver is from Florida and has never driven in snow conditions before. Being a resort community, you never know where people come from. Montana has a great way of addressing this. Everywhere along route 191 there are turnouts. If a driver is moving slower than traffic and leads a caravan cars behind them, the driver is required by law to pull over into a turnout and allow the other drivers to pass. (Note: know when you need to pull over in life. It’s OK. If you need to pause along the way, to breath and exhale the stress or just to enjoy the beauty nearby, go ahead, slow down and pull into the turnout. Merge into life when you’re ready.)
Trust in others is vital
To live fully and to love freely, we have to trust others who come into our lives. If you are driving 191, no matter how responsible and cautious you are as a driver, you have to trust that the other driver is being responsible and cautious as well, especially during the tight, canyon wall-hugging curves.
Even though it’s only two lanes, Highway 191 is a major north south route for cargo and commercial vehicles. Plus, with the fast growing Big Sky resort community, there is a daily parade of construction vehicles. If I am not able to trust the other driver, I might as well not be on the road. But trusting comes from a place of our own level of responsibility. And if you’ve studied Brene Brown, trust also pairs with vulnerability.
If we live with belief in ourselves then it is much easier to accept and believe in each other.
Pandemic or not; risk is present everyday
Within the first few miles of driving along Highway 191 in Gallatin Canyon, you will notice small white crosses at the side of the road. One cross. A pair standing together, and then a group of four. These crosses mark the road where lives were lost.
The simplicity of a small white cross placed to honor a life that passed beyond also reminds people on the highway that life is finite. In a split second, hearts stop beating even when driving on a beautiful road embraced by a majestic land that take one’s breath away. Among this beauty, even when we are focused, the crosses remind us that every road we travel has a level of risk.
Lessons learned on highway 191
These are unusual times for us all. If we are to rise up together and rebuild our communities and our lives, we need to be responsible in every decision and trust others in our community. This means we will open ourselves up to being vulnerable. We won’t have all the answers, and tomorrow new decisions will need to be made or maybe old behaviors will need to change.
Visualize an imaginary circle around yourself. In time, as we reduce the six foot radius that keeps us at a safe distance, we will need to trust each other as our circles overlap and fold into one another. Remember, in love, in life, in new jobs, endeavoring onto a new experience - there is risk. We live with risk everyday. Reducing risk is managed by increasing our personal responsibility and awareness. For the near future, our responsibility is to wash our hands, practice social distancing, stay home unless going out is necessitated, etc.
All we can control is what we can control. How we practice responsibility will depend on our values, our beliefs and our ability to be gracious and kind during this difficult time.
Be responsible.
Trust others.
Stay in your lane.
Reduce risk.
and be well, my friend and neighbor.