Those old roads
Years ago people did not travel very far from home. There was no need. Most of your food was locally sourced and your school was just up the road and church was just a wagon ride away. I can remember the wagon sitting in the yard beside the woodpile. No horse attached because we already had our version of the horses carriage by that point. I can also remember when the roads were paved for the first time. Before that you waited for the snow to come then you waited for the end of mud season and in the middle of summer you could get out on the road beside the house and go down as far as the neighbours without needing to wade through the mud. It was a different age. My father one afternoon explained that he never made it to town until he was 16 which came as a shock because I thought I was well traveled by that point. I had been to town. But again there was no need. If you were sick the doctor came to the house if you died the priest came to the house if you had any other reason to go see someone they probably lived close enough by that there was no real difficulty. I live in one of those roads, now. Paved after a fashion. And I still don’t go to town anymore than I used to. I have Internet now. In the summertime when people come to visit the window of opportunity is narrow and we stay home waiting for them to come in the driveway. I am particularly interested in some old roads that run west of here along the cliff edge. The original roads from well over a century ago. At that point people still went from place to place by boat or by horse period. But the road is still visible is a credit to how deeply into the mud the wheels would go period. I should dig out some old pictures. Quite a contrast from later in life when I moved to the big cities. They had so much road they even had sidewalks. Imagine. And the horses are all gone. Too much trouble when you can just keep one of those contraptions in the driveway and put a little gasoline in the tank. Easy come an easy go. I watched a video this morning from a small island off the coast of Scotland and they went through the same cycle of inconvenience. The roads are still just one step above impossible. No need to go over there when you have everything at home. Anyhow I will not be traveling today. I cannot think of a single reason to go to town.
Read the rest of this entry »posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Those old roads | 459 words
