I think my life has a lot in common with a Vermont dirt road in the spring.  We often find ourselves driving on dirt roads here in Vermont.  There is often simply no other way to get from point A to point B.  There are times when you might begin your journey on a road like this and think that you found a better one than you thought.  Things are smooth, and the road is well cared for.  It works the same way in life.  Sometimes you feel like things are going smoothly, and that the path that you are on is the right one, a good one.  In both cases, that feeling never lasts.
First you hit the washboard sections of road.  You are jolted and jarred back to the reality of mud season and its perils.  You try to retain control of the car as you slow down dramatically, praying under your breath that there are no oncoming cars because the unexpected washboard has caused you to lose a bit of the control you thought you had.  The line between back in control and dangerously out of control is thin.
Then, just when you have recovered from the shock of the washboard, you come to the soft ruts that have been carved into the traveled portion of the road.  Those ruts grab your tires, threatening to throw you completely off your track.  Once again your fragile grip on control is threatened as you back off and slightly change your course.
Finally you hit the huge, unavoidable potholes.  These are the kind that jar your teeth, rattle every loose object in your car, and make you wonder if the toll that this path is taking on you is really worth it.  There are times that you might even feel the need to stop completely and make sure there is no actual damage from the impact.
Each and every section of our spring roads seems to mirror the path of my life right now.  I finally think that I am on a smooth track in my life, and then I hit the rough sections and I am forced to slow down or possibly even thrown completely off the path I thought I was on.  The miscarriages I had before Isabella came into our lives were my first true encounters with the muddy roads of life.  Then we got our beautiful third daughter and it looked like the road was clear...for about 36 hours.  Then we hit the worst road I've ever travelled on.  Isabella's UCD was our washboard, ruts, and potholes all in one.  And every time we thought we'd made it through our own personal spring and come out okay on summer roads, little ruts or potholes appeared and changed our course.  Isabella's transplant was right up there with her initial diagnosis when it comes to how it threw us off the road we thought we were travelling.  But we got back on the road, like we always seem to do.
The problem now is that we are still in the spring of our lives.  We are still encountering the rough roads that veer us off course.  Sometimes those ruts are harder to take then other times.  Maybe my shocks are worn, or I am almost out of gas.  Maybe they are like water-filled potholes.  They seem like shallow, almost harmless hazards, but their actual effect is worse than you thought it would be.  Regardless, I still have to get to point B.  I pull myself together, tighten my grip on the wheel, and aim my car back on course, protecting the occupants of my car.  I check my speed and evaluate the road ahead for more obstacles, then begin the rest of my journey.
We've been running some rough roads for the past couple of weeks with Isabella.  She has had terrible diarrhea for the past two weeks (she is going to kill me for this some day), and her doctors haven't been able to figure out the cause.  Yesterday she started vomiting, and that earned us a trip to the E.R.  We were there until 2 a.m., but still don't have a cause.  I made the choice last week to resign from my teaching position at BFA, and I guess it is starting to look like it was a good idea.  I would have missed at least a day of work in my first full week back.  One example of why slowing down and checking my speed in the rough spots might be a good idea.
One thing I've learned from driving during mud season in Vermont for the past 18 years is that the roads do eventually dry out and smooth over a bit.  The smooth roads don't last forever, only until mud season rolls back around, but they can last for a while.  The scenery can be awesome along the way, too...