How far out are the sticks?

Despite the dirt roads and dense woods in back of our house, I don't really feel like I'm living "out in the sticks", as we used to say in Arkansas. There are about 10 houses within a quarter mile or so, and there is a good network of roads in all directions, even though many are dirt.

Before coming here, we spent very little time on dirt roads. Most of my images of dirt roads were from rural Arkansas in the 50's, so they included ruts, washouts, one lane and dusty. None of those apply here. The dirt roads are a hard-packed mixture of delivered dirt and gravel, which produces a smooth, all-weather surface. In fact, pat had to get out of the car before she believed they weren't asphalt. Roads are watered regularly when it is dry, and graded quickly when wash-boards or other problems appear. Even our little road, which serves only about ten houses, has already been graded twice this summer.

In some places, the costs of maintaining asphalt roads has caused towns to 'return' some roads to dirt. In addition to the higher costs of maintaining, dirt roads are apparently easier to deal with in the winter and less subject to damage by salt. About the only real disadvantage is a dirty car. However, everyone else has a dirty car too, making clean look just a tad pretentious. So being dirt don't hurt, except for the feelings of those who live on them and don't like the conversion.

Road maintenance here is about a six-month season. Little can be done during the cold months, especially after the ground freezes. Given this, I had expected to see large scale equipment on even the smaller projects. Was I surprised. An interstate overpass has been under rennovation most of the season. One reason has been the small scale of the equipment. On several days, I've seen workers using small hand operated power tools to remove old asphalt and clean the surface. Once a worker was patching the concrete with a hand trowel!. Despite this small scale, the repairs are first rate. Water proof linings protect the bridge structure (salt will dissolve concrete), and there is a double layer of new asphalt.

All this may suggest that I spend a lot of time as a sidewalk (or roadside) superintendent, but not so. The overpass work is on the main road into St. J, so we cross it several times a week. There literally are no stores in Waterford! The closest is a gas-station - convenience store about four miles "down the hill".

No longer do I make a quick trip to the hardware store or a food store. Groceries, hardware, prepared food, church, and just about everything else requires a trip either to St. Johnsbury or to Littleton NH. Although this is a nuisance, especially when you remember what you forgot on the way home, there is an upside - absolutely NO traffic, crazed drivers or un-synchronized lights to create problems or raise your blood pressure. That is worth the extra miles.