They're rebuilding one of the main roads I take to get to work. It's a county road and heavily trafficked so I knew construction would take considerable time. When I say "heavily trafficked" I mean I would encounter 3-5 cars on it driving home during rush hour. I live in the country so if traffic is ever bumper to bumper it's because there's deer crossing slowly, a house is on fire and the road is closed or there's been an accident. Now that the road is down to one lane during construction, I'm realizing just how many people use that road and I've decided that I will no longer be one of those people until the project is done. Finding a way around such a main route in the country involves navigating winding back roads that are often gravel, but as I drive an SUV with good ground clearance and suspension, I'm not intimidated. I got directions from point A to point B via Google Maps and then rerouted those directions around the main road it felt to be the "easiest" way. There's nothing easy about being stuck parked in construction traffic for 15-20 minutes when I need to get home for my daughters' bus. At least on country roads I'm moving along and in control of my own speed. I am familiar with most of the roads on the plotted route so I knew that once I've driven it a couple times I'd be able to go by landmarks. Landmarks being things like half-dead trees, old barns and cutely painted mailboxes. Driving the hilly, winding, gravel roads is quite the adventure. In the mornings there aren't many cars on these roads, so when I'm driving the only traffic I usually encounter are squirrels, deer, crows and flocks of other smaller birds. All the critters seem rather surprised to see a SUV barreling along their roads and I have to come to near complete stops for indecisive squirrels and deer. Birds go flying off in a dither, probably swearing at me in chirps but they'll just have to get used to seeing me. I'll be driving through the Disney-like nature of these back roads until construction is complete. At the rate the crew is going, that won't be until October if I'm lucky. Another interesting little detail about these country roads is that half of them don't have road signs. Directions that say "turn left on Smith Road" are totally useless when Smith Road isn't labeled and looks like every other winding road around. Putting signs up might be on the town's "to do list" or they may never go up because the people who live on those roads like being incognito. It's okay, I figure out where I'm going eventually and I certainly understand the desire to remain hidden. The roads tend to be all in shadow because of the abundance of trees and as the leaves change color for autumn I'm sure I'll be treated to beautiful tours through shades of red, orange and yellow. My chosen route is actually faster than being stuck in construction...unless I decide to stop and take pictures with my little Canon Powershot. Such an endeavor is an acceptable delay and far more enjoyable than being parked among other grumbling commuters. In driving, just as in life, I won't allow my journey to be stopped by the dictates of others. I will keep moving forward in the direction of my choosing and I will face whatever lies around each curve and over every hill with my usual optimism and hope.
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