|
What's mainly wrong with society today is that too many
dirt roads have been paved.
There's not a problem in America today,
that wouldn't be remedied, if we just had more dirt roads, because dirt roads
give character.
People that live at the end of dirt
roads learn early on that life is a bumpy ride—that it can jar you right down to your teeth sometimes, but it's worth it, if
at the
end is home...... a loving spouse, happy kids, and a dog.
We wouldn't have near the trouble with our educational system if our kids got
their
exercise walking a dirt
road with other kids, from whom they learn how to get
along.
There was less crime in our streets before they were paved.
Criminals didn't walk two dusty miles to rob or pillage, if they knew they'd be
welcomed by five barking dogs and a double-barrel shotgun. And there were no
drive-by shootings.
Our values were better when our
roads were worse!
People did not worship their cars more than their kids, and motorists were more
courteous. They didn't tailgate by riding the bumper, or the guy in front would
choke you with dust and bust your windshield with rocks.
Dirt roads taught patience.
Dirt roads were environmentally friendly. You didn't hop in your car to go get a
quart of milk, you walked to the barn for your milk. For your mail, you walked
to the mail box.
What if it rained, and the
dirt road got washed out? That was the best part—then you stayed home and had
some family time—roasted marshmallows and popped popcorn and pony-rode on daddy's
shoulders and learned how to make prettier quilts than anybody.
At the end of dirt roads, you soon learned that bad words tasted like soap.
Most paved roads lead to trouble. Dirt roads more likely lead to a fishing creek
or a swimming hole.
At the end of a dirt road, the only time we locked our car was in August,
because if we didn't, some neighbor would fill it with too much zucchini.
At the end of a dirt road, there was always extra springtime income, from when
city dudes would get stuck, and you'd have to hitch up a team and pull them out.
Usually you got a dollar, and always you got a new friend...... at the end
of a dirt road!
Credits:
Author: Lee Pitts (read by Paul Harvey on his
radio show)
Photo:
Taken by Dora Bragg in 2006
at the home of Charlotte Kilgore,
Moultrie, Georgia
Back to
Site Index
|
|