If you live anywhere in the inhabited world you probably groan a little when you see the words “road construction.” Summer is prime time up here in the mountains. Weather is prohibitive so if you’re going to get it done, you better get it done between May and October. Oops, October won’t work…too many people driving around looking at leaves. Well, that’s the way it used to be. These days there aren’t many people just driving around looking at anything. That works for me, but for the sake of argument, let’s say that road construction in Ashe County best be started and finished in a pretty timely fashion.
For the past few weeks they’ve been working on the road in front of Sadie’s Place. This is no ordinary resurfacing. Peak Creek Church Road is about two miles long. If you removed the bumps, holes, curves and wash-outs you wouldn’t have a road at all. This is not all bad since it keeps traffic to a minimum on a beautiful little pathway that connects the Blue Ridge Parkway to Highway 88. We have a good laugh about our road because at each end there are signs that proclaim “BUMP.” This does not refer to a single bump, but rather a bump continuum. I like riding my bike along this stretch, but I don’t miss the days when I drove a 15-person van full of Laurel Ridge campers to the New River as a canoe trailer wiggled along behind us. There’s a level of discomfort when pulling something you can’t see in your rear view mirror because you and what you’re pulling are on opposite ends of a curve
Someone seems to think this road can be straightened out and they’ve been working hard. I am secretly suspicious that this is some kind of high level road construction training course. Perhaps our road contains every problem one might encounter when doing road repair in the mountains. They expect to finish next week and I will honestly miss the workers, but have plans to haul out the roller blades as soon as the last truck pulls away.
I’ve had great conversations with a few of the crew while waiting for the sign to turn from “stop” to “slow”, and the invitation on the back of a remarkably clean, white truck that says “please follow me.” I have come to know what these folks are reading, I listen to them singing, We swap stories and smiles and understanding looks when they have to deal with impatient neighbors who are just too busy to wait.. There are two crew members I’ve grown particularly fond of. An elderly gentleman with impeccable English and a smile almost as broad as his 6 foot 5 body is tall, and a feisty red- headed, single mom who tells me how grateful she is to have a job. and how remarkable it is to be paid to be outdoors under a big, blue sky talking with folks as they wait or reading her book when they’re not interested in chewing the fat. These two smile when they see my car approaching, call me sweetie, and remind me to drive safe as I pull away. Some mornings I bring muffins to share..
Isn’t it wonderful to have such opportunities? To meet people right in the crazy middle of things.
