Please Don't Pave

Last Saturday morning we heard some machinery going up and down the street (unusually early, I might add, since most commercial work doesn't begin until after 10 o'clock on Saturday mornings). The machine was grading the road. We live on a rutted dirt road. At first, evening it out seemed like a good idea. Until it occurred to us that grading it might be the first step toward paving it.

Several issues.

First, we live on the edge of a blind corner that's also a three-way intersection. While there's little traffic on this road, we've had more close calls than we should have with drivers coming around that corner as we're pulling out of our driveway. Keeping it unpaved will keep people from driving even more quickly and recklessly.

Second, this is a small road with nothing but a handful of private residences along it. Why would they pave it before any number of the chewed-up, pot-holed, much more travelled roads in the neighborhood? We suspect it has to do with the owner of the ridiculous house at the end of our street that was under construction for over a year and finally seems to be near completion. We've deduced that the owner must be a wealthy Burundian, perhaps even a politician, and he may have enough influence to get the road he lives on paved.

Third, we've enjoyed the charm of our dirt road. The only consolation I have is that it takes so long to pave roads here, I might be gone by the time they actually get it done. But that makes me sad, because I'm not ready to leave yet. Looking at my calendar yesterday, I realized I leave in only four months. I can't believe it's happening so soon! There's so much to do to prepare for moving that the time is going to fly by.