It was a momentous day in Garfield yesterday – the street in front of our house was paved. You see, Garfield has many streets and sections of streets that are gravel. In the city limits. Surprising? Not if you’ve spent time driving off main street in many of Washington’s rural communities. The dust is relentless (forget trying to keep your furniture company-ready or hang clothes on the line). Except when there’s snow – then it’s an icy mess. Most of the time these roads are dotted with potholes, none of them small. Towns continually spend to maintain these roads as best they can. Every few years there might be enough money in the budget to put down oil on some stretches in the summer to minimize the dust for a while.
I went outside and thanked the guys operating the heavy equipment. And I might have teared up a little. The town has been waiting over 10 years for this. We personally have been waiting since we moved here over 8 years ago. It was finally Garfield’s turn for some grant funding from the Transportation Improvement Board (TIB).
As I type, I hear the dump trucks working on nearby roads as they continue to bring us into modern times. I am hopeful we no longer have any gravel streets in town by the end of the month.
A paved street. A 5 GIG internet connection. Although I no longer have an excuse not to dust once in a while, this rural resident is feeling pretty damn fortunate today.
Take care,
Jody
