Country Roads

[2003]

Visitors seem to find our roads daunting, for some reason I cannot fathom. Sure, they are only one lane wide. I admit that you come to a blind curve (on average) once every thirty seconds. And yes, the only reason for the lack of deer crossing signs is because the deer wouldn't pay any attention to them. But I find our roads much more pleasant than in-city driving.

A speed limit of 25-30 mph encourages you to slow down and enjoy your drive, without worrying about getting in the right lane or watching out for the fellow up ahead who might pull out in front of you. Here you can forget such frentic-frantic aspects of driving and simply enjoy the challenge of navigating the curves without hitting the chickens.

We have a sort of lazy friendliness out here. The sleepy tail-wagging dogs who meander casually off the road at your approach are full of it. Even from inside the car you are aware of it. I've never encountered any other place where the drivers of oncoming cars pause to wave as they steer one wheel in the dirt to pass.

You don't meet a car that often, though, and much of the time it is just you, the windshield, and the beautiful rural scenery beyond. If one winding hillside stretch of Rider's Creek is especially treacherous, it also possesses a view so lovely when the wild grass turns orange-gold that I have seen out-of-staters reaching for their cameras. And my favorite bit just a little farther where the road climbs gently skyward under a canopy of trees that allow the sunlight to filter down in shafts of gold. I've seen calendar pictures of similar scenes that are less gorgeous. Does it really matter if the view ahead is obscured for an anxious several hundred yards while road is so narrow that you must back up if you meet another car?

The potholes too, they only make it more fun! You may flinch as the car goes bump-bump-bump or worry about the damage to your car's suspension if you like, but I rather enjoy the exhilarating challenge of navigating just the path through the road-width pothole groups that has the fewest bumps.

Often when I am whizzing down a ruler-straight highway at 55 miles per hour, I miss our roads.