Joy Ride

 I went for a drive today. My goal was to check out a road across town.

Our road was supposed to be paved this fall, finished by November 1. I had my doubts about that end date when they didn't even start preparing the surface until well into October. They spent four days grading, hauling and spreading underlayment, and rolling the surface. It was ready! They took that Friday off...and then it rained for a week. Okay. Certainly they would be back the following week. They didn't return, so last week I called town hall to get a status report. I was told it had been wet and then it was too cold. I asked if it was possible that it wouldn't get paved this year, and the answer was that that was a possibility. 

There was no progress this week, so I decided to take a drive across town to see if the other road that was due to be paved was seeing any action. Indeed it was! One half of the road was being paved as I sat there staring. So much for being too wet or too cold. 

I guessed it wasn't a good idea to call town hall until I had collected my thoughts. I started back toward home and kept driving to the river, just three and a half miles from my house. The day was bright and the river was calm. I decided to give my mom a call. We talked about kids and grandkids, landscaping, weather, Rachel Maddow and Brian Williams. It was a good conversation and gave me time to compose what I wanted to say. 

I took the long way home. I called the town manager as soon as I got home. Very interesting update ~ our road is on the schedule to be graded the day after tomorrow and paved next week. I am encouraged, yet I know enough about this process to not get my hopes up too high. 

The other thing I learned today is that I miss going for a drive. In the last eighteen months I have been somewhat of a hermit, often not leaving the house for days at a time. It felt good to venture out today. I didn't need to go far to feel like I'd been somewhere.