Dearest Rachel –
It’s about time, none too soon and all that. Winter may be months away yet, but construction season has been quite literally at our doorstep since I returned from the cruise – and if Daniel is to be believed (and why wouldn’t he? We’ve known that since birth, he’s no good at lying, and he would have nothing to gain from doing so in this case, particularly), for several months prior – and for all that I might not be looking forward to the advent of winter, the rolling up of the barrels on the road our home is planted on is an event much to be anticipated; and now, the moment is upon us.
As I said, it’s taken long enough for them to resurface the road. I could have sworn they were essentially done at the beginning of this month, since both pairs of lanes had been repaved, and seemed to be a solid black surface as far as I could tell. But it apparently wasn’t good enough for the municipality, as they sent trucks along the way to add another layer to it all – a process that would add another month to the ordeal.
To be sure, this extra layer was probably necessary to add on; the sewer access hatches along the route (they used to call them “manhole covers” back in the day, but… political correctness, you know) were sticking up an inch or so from street level. Nothing significant if you were to look at it, but if you weren’t looking at it, you could trip over them and hurt yourself. And as for driving over them, well… you’d definitely feel it when you did. So yeah, while everything looked done a month ago, there was this one more step left to go.
Still, once the layer was added, they left the barrels out on the street for a strangely long time…
It’s weird to be able to wander through the middle of the street like that to take a picture like this, honey. I still remember doing this after the Bulls won their first championship, since everyone was at home watching the game at the time, so there was no fear of having to deal with traffic if one chose to dance in the street in celebration. Now, of course, that surface has been removed and replaced – not that I have any sentimental attachment to that old road or anything. We’ve gotten our use out of it, and now it’s going to be nice and smooth for the foreseeable future.
But it’s been strange to keep having the barrels up, even as we’ve driven on either side of them as directed (and while I hate to have to admit it, I’ve hit one or two of them, as they’ve rather encroached on the side of the lane we’re expected to drive in). If both the left and right lanes are safe to drive on, why are we still having to deal with these things?
Well, this weekend, they finally came down:
Of course, it’s not all done; if I were to turn around and face north, you’d see a line of barrels between the lanes going on up to Euclid – and possibly as far as the railroad crossing at Northwest Highway. I wouldn’t know, as I don’t drive up there nearly as often as all that, so I won’t speak for whether that’s been cleaned up. By the time I do, it’ll probably be as clean as outside of our door.
And that’s what matters, as far as I’m concerned. With our stretch of road cleaned up and ready to drive on, things are going to be that much easier going forward. Who knows? I may not see construction like this for as long as I continue to live here; but we’ll see how that goes.
Until then, though, honey, keep an eye on me, and wish me luck. I’m sure I’m going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 