My road story, part two
The entire chip and seal road project became a local joke. When the road was a dirt road, the County complained that maintaining it was too expensive. After the road was paved, the County complained that keeping the chip and seal road was even more costly. And remember, all this time, my property taxes on my property near 11 Mile Reservoir have been increasing every year.
Almost every time I visited my property, I'd find parts of the chip and seal road under construction, with workers replacing damaged sections due to ice and snow, or putting larger culverts under the road to accommodate overflowing creeks, the culverts would wash away during the Spring thaw, or the road would be damaged by excessive traffic, leaving large chunks of chip and seal missing.
This went on for years, until the County stopped repairing the road completely. there were no more road crews, patching cracks, filling potholes, and keeping the creeks from washing the road away. And my property tax went up year after year.
During that time, the road became all but impassable with so many potholes they couldn't be avoided, and some so big they stretched across the entire road. And remember, this is a road where people are towing their boats, and driving RVs, trying to get to the State Park. Vehicles not only had to slow down while making that drive to the state Park, but they had to weave from one side of the road to the other, avoiding oncoming traffic to keep from busting a tire in a pothole. And all the while, the property tax on my 40 acres is going up.
No, this story’s not done yet…. although by this time you probably wish you were. I think tomorrow I will finally get to the point of this last road trip and explain what happened.
Theboondork
If you look at the lower right of the picture, you will see some very green grass down in the low area. That grass is green because about 100 yards up into the forest, there's a spring. This spring flows through the forest, down the low area, and disappears near my gate.
For a couple of months during the Summer, mosquitoes are present, but not in abundance. They've always been more of an annoyance in the late afternoon than a problem, nothing like the nightmare hordes of mosquitoes from last Summer. Why did they disappear? I know the spring is flowing because the grass is green, but why aren't there any mosquitoes now? Inquiring minds want to know…..but are afraid to ask.
My little Ruger .22, which I shoot just for fun, is at the bottom of the picture. And my 10 mm Glock that I use for self-defense, especially in the woods, where there are bears and mountain lions.
Of course, a 12-gauge shotgun loaded with buckshot or slugs would be a better defense against bears and mountain lions. But a gun that you can easily carry with you is much better protection than a large, heavy gun left at home.
You can see my 25-yard target right in front of my shooting bench; it's also a wooden box full of dirt. My hundred-yard target is in that row of pine trees behind the pistol target.