dlyn

…one road at a time.

I work at home and we live miles from town, so I make every effort in coordinating my errands so as to spend the least amount of time possible driving around. This summer that has been especially important because we are beset on all sides by road construction. I know that some of you may have to drive in heavy traffic to get to work every day, but I don’t, so this is a lot of trouble just to drive into town for some fresh lemons and hummus.

This is small town construction. They don’t spend a lot of money on things like, say, flagmen. On our road they have been replacing all of the drainage pipes that run under the road. You can tell you should stop when you get up to the work, because there is no road to drive on, but I guess they can’t spare someone to actually hold up a stop sign or they don’t want to be rude or appear too aggressive. You are fortunate that they notice you at all. And when they do, they fill the hole so that you can drive over it and then dig it back up after you pass by. As you can imagine, they don’t do this particularly quickly. Add 10 minutes to the trip.

Move along about 6 or 7 miles and the next little town is doing something to a bridge. I may have caught them at nap time, because I sat at the edge of the bridge for several minutes before anyone noticed me and had the big truck move so I can get by. They had a flagman, but he seemed otherwise occupied and didn’t show up until I was halfway across the bridge when he helpfully indicated that I should keep driving on the road – rather than running over him or driving into the creek. Thanks for that.

The trouble with small town road contruction is that the one guy is your next door neighbor, or that other guy’s kids are in school with yours and the truck driver is an usher at your church. You can’t be beeping at them just because they aren’t moving as quickly as you would like because tales of your rudeness will be all over town by noon. You inflated sense of self importance is driving you to impatience with people who are just doing their job – these guys are concentrating on their work – they can’t be looking up every two seconds to see if a car is waiting to get by.

Drive another 5 miles and you approach the real deal. Construction zone three looks a little more extensive. Their sign is metal for starters.
One disadvantage of not driving into town very often is that you forget that they are repaving a big stretch of road where it is impossible to construct a detour. This does not look good. Not only is there a long line of cars, but no one is coming from the other direction either. Translation: Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter HereIt could be worse though. See those people back there? Hah! Suckers!This is the longest I have ever sat at the same spot for construction. I could have gotten out and changed my oil or made a few bucks washing windshields.This guy actually tried to take me out, but I was ready for him. His mom apparently never taught him the concept of taking turns.There is no getting around this construction either, so on the way back I had to wait just as long.When this guy pulled out in front of me, I wasn’t sure what to do. I could either follow him or stop in the middle of the road, and I had a strong feeling that the people behind me would have not been pleased had I chosen the second option. Fortunately for me, my lemming-like pursuit didn’t result in my driving off a cliff. On my way back home, I can’t help feeling just a touch smug in my relief as I pass by the line now waiting to get into town. Like I did anything impressive other than follow the people in front of me.This is little more than a cruel joke though – there is no end to the road work until November, when we have to start dodging snowplows.

Sheeeesh- Zero to little internet connection all day and I still can’t get a photo to upload. Sure hope it is working by morning when I have to work.

Sorry Lauren – this week there really isn’t a photo from home. I will keep trying. We miss you!

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