Where I live we have long, real winters – as well as real long winters. We describe our seasons as being 8 months of winter and 4 months of road maintenance.
You see, if you ‘build it’ and leave it nothing stays stagnant. They usually get worse. Here where I live I am in part of the East Abitibi clay belt.
With continuous freeze, melt, heaves, freeze, melts over the years those in road construction / repair were guaranteed work every year. Some areas would have annual contests to discover which street had the biggest pot holes every year. Rumours of holes big enough to swallow a vehicle were almost believed.
I was thinking of me and my life. Here I am, at x number of years old, and yes, I still am a work in progress. And I am still able to learn and grow. Last week was one very busy for me so a lot of the work needed from Week 3 did not get done.
Which brings me to week 4 floundering. But it is never too late for maintenance. So instead of giving up I get the tools out and will continue to do my own “road maintenance” and will continue to work on me. Here’s for a smoother road soon.
~ Peggy from Porcupine
2023 10 16
Hey, Peggy!! I grew up in Northern Washington State and thought the winters there were terrible. Then, I took a trip to Alaska with the perma-frost and found that my upbringing differed. Now in California, we have challenges just fixing the roads. In the same way, we like to compare our personal growth with others, however, it all depends on one’s circumstances and what we are judging ourselves on. Each of us is on our own journey. Like the roads we are on, we are obligated to manage our own maintenance. Keep up the excellent work!
It’s interesting to hear about your experience with long, harsh winters and the impact they have on road maintenance. It’s true that if you don’t take care of something, it will likely deteriorate over time.
I also appreciate the analogy you made between road maintenance and personal growth. It’s never too late to work on ourselves and make improvements, even if we’ve been neglecting it for a while. Just like a road can be repaired and made smoother, we too can take the necessary steps to become better versions of ourselves. Keep up the good work!
I love this Peggy. Being from Alberta, I can totally relate to the seasons of winter and construction. But I hadn’t thought about it the same way as you. Luckily our own season of ‘construction and improvement’ is not limited by the seasons. Good for you!
I love what you said about maintenance old habits are always trying to make there way back.
Peggy, I love your honesty, and I can tell you are an amazing woman and your family and grandchildren are so blessed to have you. I love that you will not stop doing what is needed. I will pray for you dear lady. Thank you for your blog it touched my heart more than you may know.
I love your optimism, Peggy. You’ve got this! 🙂
There is always so much that comes to mind when we talk about “seasonal”, but the idea of road maintenance and paving our own way forward, well, I just love it!!