For someone who professes not to be a poet, you sure do know how to work a metaphor.

It's a great concept, and it seems to apply to an awful lot of what we do in life, since the direct path is so often either unsafe or impossible. My favorite variation--just because the concept is so cool--is tacking, which is how you sail your boat against the wind.

But yeah, let's hear it for taking the scenic route, and for making virtue of necessity.