Excavation and introspection

 

There are so many things I miss when the calendar changes...flip flops, sun shine, shorts and kayaking at the lake.   But there is one thing I absolutely do not miss and that is ROAD WORK. 
All summer long our town has been a night mare of orange cones, asphalt rollers and flag men.  Any street I want to take is one lane,  or blocked,  or worse.  I estimate I've spent a minimum six hours of my life that I will never get back just sitting in traffic lines waiting for the flag-person to flip the sign from "stop" to "slow".

And so, one bright sunny morning, as they finished the stripping and cleaning of Main Street, I was sitting at one of these stops when I actually took the time to look down.  To my amazement I saw history looking back at me!   I had never realized underneath the asphalt a red brick street meanders up the hill.  I haven't looked up the dates, but my bet is this brick road has been in place over a hundred and fifty years.  Somewhere in the brick work trolly tracks probably still exist.  At one point in Mansfield's history horse drawn carriages navigated this brick road; I can imagine women wearing high button shoes and men wearing bowler hats crossing the busy street to get to shops and churches and offices.   Later new fangled motor cars took possession of the roadway, and that's probably when people came to appreciate the luxury of a smooth road over the bump and bounce of brick.

 

Year after year, layer after layer of asphalt was put down and scraped up....put down and scraped up.   And, for all those years, the brick street beneath provided the solid foundation that today's traffic runs on.

I couldn't just drive over that street with all it's history. I had to stop, park my car, and take a couple of pictures.  As I walked along I noticed the bricks in the street scape running up Main Street.  This brick, much more decorative, has  probably been in place more along the lines of twenty years.  They dip and tip and they're coming apart in many places.  I guess they just don't build em' like they used to because, as I walked along looking at the exposed brick of Main Street, I didn't see one spot in that very old brick work that had shifted or failed. 

Once I noticed the exposed brick I looked at the road work and the wait in line very differently.  Every day, as the work to remove the old asphalt progressed, more and more of our cities history became visible.  I actually enjoyed waiting for the traffic to move. I'm sure people around me must have wondered why this crazy lady would open her car door and lean down to peer at the street.  Just FYI, I was looking for an imprinted manufacturers name and different colored brick that might have suggested long ago street repairs. 

As they worked to put down the new surface I felt my interest wane; history was being resealed into it's tomb of hot asphalt.  Finally the resurfacing work was done.  They're still adding the finishing touches of striping and turn lanes, but the red brick street is dull black once again.  Soon it will be completely sealed and ready for winter.  I know the asphalt is a smoother ride and probably more practical, but it lacks the character and charm of the old brick street  that lies beneath.  Ten years from now they will start the process all over, scraping up the old asphalt and putting down the new;  if I'm still around I'll probably be looking for that old brick road that has become the strong foundation on which our city is built. 

Waiting in traffic this summer and discovering the past peeking out at me has taught me a modicum of patience.  Perhaps I can learn a lesson about building on a strong foundation as well....it would  make those six hours I lost worth something after all.

                                                        Life is Good