Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.

• Genesis 16:7

Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.

• Mark 11:8

I used these two Scriptures to illustrate that roads have existed from early times of history.  They became better built during the Roman times, and Jesus’ triumphal entry was over a Roman road.

In Pennsylvania, nearly every road has a pothole, what some folks in the South call a chug hole.  They are usually formed by water being underneath the pavement for one reason or another.  When the water freezes, it compresses the area around it.  But then, when the water thaws, it takes up less space.  Thus, there is a gap underneath the pavement.  A car or truck driving over that gap causes the pavement to crumble.  Then, the crumbled pieces fall out of the hole as traffic drives over it.

To understand the photo, the light gray portions of the road are the remains of the old asphalt paving.  The dark strips are where the potholes played a game called “connect the dots.”  The black gravel is up to six inches lower than the remaining pavement.  This photo is one of the few spots on the “road” that the potholes did not “connect the dots” across the road, or getting creative, playing checkers with potholes going in both directions at once.

What you see in the photo is something that happens on less travelled roads.  Instead of being a road with a few potholes, it is a huge pothole that has intermittent portions of road.  Note: I would have taken a photo of a worse section of the road, or non-road if you prefer, but I was busy trying to negotiate around the rough spots or someone was behind me and I was unable to stop and take a photo.

On a few occasions, I had to get off the road entirely due to the car coming the other direction refusing to yield their “right of way” in driving down the middle, in this case with wheels on either side of the actual pavement.  This driving phenomenon is not restricted to Pennsylvania, but it is more prevalent when the road is too narrow to paint a center stripe.  Thus, the other driver thinks that they are more important than you, and going in the ditch is roughly the same as bowing to their superiority.  But it avoids the inevitable accident.

But one of the hazards on a road like this is when you suddenly find a small piece of real road.  It is like hopping a curb at street speeds, or 70-80mph if you are as crazy as the other drivers in Pennsylvania.  They drive that fast because a policeman would not be caught dead on one of these non-roads.

Without any pavement, it would be a gravel road like many of the roads in my youth in Mississippi.  But in those days, people were polite to each other, and they drove slower on gravel roads to: 1) Be courteous to the farmers and other people living there by kicking up less dust. 2) Be safe in that an unknown patch of loose gravel could cause your car to lose control. And 3) Be ready to move slightly to the right to meet an on-coming vehicle who did the same for you.

In reading that last paragraph, it shows how much degradation there is in the world today.  Those courtesies are gone now.

But why would I ever risk my life on such a non-road?  In a strange twist, it was the easiest way to get from my home to the diagnostic center immediately after the power outage occurred.  The main highway was so badly blocked by fallen trees, it was nearly two-weeks before the main highway was drivable, and I had two different tests scheduled over that timeframe.  I took this road to get to the appointment and then I drove to the town where I go to church and then back home on my usual route to go to church.

During the aftermath of the derecho, it was almost like the old farmer in the old joke about a city slicker asking directions.  The farmer points in each direction and tells him to make a few right and left turns, the more bizarre the landmarks get, the funnier the joke.  But in each case, the road would be closed due to a bridge being out or trees had blocked the road, etc.  Then the farmer takes off his straw hat and scratches his head and says, “Sorry, Mister, but you can’t get there from here.”

And sometimes, when you face driving down a non-road like this one for several miles, you do not want to get there.  It might be easier to reschedule your appointment and simply stay home.

But when you have all four tires on a firm pavement again, you should pull over and spend a minute praising God for protecting you on your journey.

But if going down such a road has made you late for your appointment, you could praise God later.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.