Backed into a Corner...sort of

I am quite sure that most people have heard of the expression, “backed into a corner”, and quite literally, if this has ever happened to you then you are familiar with the sense of anxiety that follows. Fortunately, if you maintain a cool composure and gather your thoughts, options may begin to present themselves that you may not have considered initially. Hopefully, enough alternatives will become apparent that you can actually “escape” this, shall we say, incarceration. Well, I recently took a wrong turn while driving that left me no option but to back out of the corner, and allow me to explain.
While in the scenic hillside community of Lierna, Italy, along the shores of Lake Como, I was driving a minivan that was designed to carry a large payload of people, but was clearly not designed for some of the narrow “viales” in Italy. I proceeded down one of the many unmarked roadways that should have led to the main street leaving town. Of course, we were on a tight schedule, so Murphy’s Law was lurking at the end of this wrong turn. As we descended the hillside, the road became narrower and more limiting. Just then, what appeared to be a quick route to the bottom of the hill, looked more like an astronomical , “black hole”; no way out. We dead ended into a series of driveways that would only have permitted one of those mini-eurocars, and that wasn’t what we were driving. I felt like we had just checked into the Hotel California; you can check in but you can never leave.

After several feeble attempts to turn ourselves around, it became apparent that there was only one way out and that was to back out without the luxury of our side view mirrors or the skill of a seasoned driver. However, somehow by the grace of God and good fortune, the minivan tracked its way out of this tomb, arising from the “dead end”, so to speak. After gathering our collective energy once again, we reconvened at the top of the hill for our trip back to Milan.

Of all the turns that we face in life, some are more daunting than others, and in this case, there were no turns. It required a concentrated effort and the support of many to retrace our path, quite literally in reverse, which allowed us to get back on the road home. We all agreed that a return trip to this little part of Italy would be worth it, particularly with our dinner in Verena on the shores of Lake Como the night before. However, our little misadventure on the roads of Lierna almost left us in the corner, and I assure you, there was nowhere to turn. Ciao!