New Corners

We are getting a new corner in the neighborhood, the neighboring township must have some bucks to spend to fix the old township road.

This is a traffic jam at the corner.  Potato digging machines were hogging the road.

The corner in progress on day one.  This corner is on our usual route when we go for a evening drive.  We usually see deer in the hayfield that is just up yonder and is all green. Previously this corner was full of Jack Pines and Milkweed.

 

We drove down again yesterday to see how it is coming along. Day two.

Old road on the left the new one on the right.

My other baby brother’s construction company is doing the work.  It is not done yet…maybe next week.  I wonder how the snow will blow…probably off the road.

Other road news concerns our State Hwy 225 that was given to the County along with 9 million dollars for a new road…either that or four way stops at all of the many corners that this stair step road has…it’s new name will be County 26…that will take some getting used to as it has been State 225 ever since I can remember.  The County is calling it a dangerous road because you have to slow down for the corners…duh…their other solution is to make it a 40 mph road with 40 mph corners….right now the corners are about 25-30 mph corners…been that way ever since I can remember…and a few were 10 mph corners but great fun on a bike.

Here is an old 1924-1925 Road Map.  Can you find the stair steps? The road back then was built on section lines and you had to go through Ponsford to get to Detroit Lakes.  Later a new road would bypass Ponsford in effect killing the town…the new road would go from Osage straight west to Detroit Lakes.

Goose Jam

Now you have seen a Minnesota Goose Jam:)

Traffic

Who gave these people permission to drive on my road anyway, they ruined a perfectly good photo. This is a spot in the road where I like to stop and take a photo of the empty road and the surrounding fields.

 If I really zoom in with the camera it looks like this road is part roller-coaster. It used to be worse..small children who were inclined to be car sick would sometimes feel their tummies being tickled by the road..I believe it was Tami who came up with that saying..a long time ago, and now my Grand-girls use the same tummy tickling to describe the ride ..except some of them request "Drive really fast Grandma."

This road is in the opening chapters of Red Earth, White Earth, since I didn't see the movie I don't know if it was depicted correctly in the film or not.

For me it is just the road home, away from traffic, even if it is only a car or two, most people who I know anyway..who wave and smile, so I wave and smile back through clenched teeth..I like having the road all to myself:) 

"Houston, we have a problem"

Ike seems to be bringing Texas to it's knees. Luckily we purchased Gas yesterday, it was $3.54 a gallon. Now with Ike filling up the Gulf of Mexico, the News channels are going bonkers..and predicting gas shortages. Now that is something I know about from the oil embargo back in 1973, it wasn't any fun then, but people were calmer back then. I hate to think of the "road rage" out there if gasoline becomes scarce.

Have you noticed that some drivers are not very polite? We have been struggling with four way stop signs in Park Rapids the entire summer. The road through town is being worked on by the slowest most expensive construction company I have ever seen in my life. You know, two cars can go through a four way stop at once..North/South can go and then East/West can go. Most people don't "get" this. they want their very own turn, and will sit there through their turn..and then someone who wants to make a right or left turn..well that is way too far out for anyone to comprehend, plus I think it messes them up so bad that they forget who's turn it is. A long time ago, before stop lights, we only had four way stops in town. It really is not so difficult.

One day I was in town, the traffic was horrendously slow, well I made it slower. A number of cars were waiting to enter the traffic, well I was already stopped and when the traffic in front of me moved forward I just waved the waiting cars through. It was a Minnesota nice thing to do, I got lots of waves and smiles! The guy directly behind me must have been a tourist, he honked at me. Well that was a bad thing to do. Never ever honk at Farside, It propelled me to not only let all the cars waiting at Pamida to go, but those at Dairy Queen also. It took that "honker" a really long time to get out of town. Oh yes, I suppose they could have given me some type of traffic citation, obstructing the flow of traffic, or maybe "old lady being nice" and I would have had to explain it to the Judge. But there was way too much traffic for the Police to properly patrol the area.

When Far Guy was stationed at MacDill AFB in Tampa, we were in a hurricane watch. I had absolutely no idea what to do. I got a quick class in Hurricane 101 from a neighbor, fill the tub and every container you have with drinking water. Go to the grocery store and buy non perishable food, enough to get you through a week. Make sure you have batteries for your radio, and pack a bag. Luckily we only had lots of wind and rain that time, and never lost our electricity. High water, was the worst thing, lots of creepy crawlies were displaced.So Houston has a problem, I don't wish bad weather or flooding on anyone. My friend Charles was evacuated from his apartment in Aransas Pass, TX (Corpus Christi, TX area) ...he has the early stages of Alzheimers, I hope he can remember some of what has happened when he returns to his home. :)