Backroads

Daddy, his brother Walton and cousins Luster and Herman...

(deer hunting season, 1949)

I love to take short cuts, the backroads that cut off miles or time to my trips. No matter where we have lived, I have found an easier path to the places I go most often. My trip to town now is mostly country. It takes 5-10 minutes tops to get into Rogers and then maybe another 5 minutes to the grocery store. If I go 2nd Street to Walnut there are 6 stoplights. If I go the back way...there is only 1. I save time and gas. Like that way best.

When we lived in Springdale, it was twice that many lights if I went the path that all the other "rabbits" followed. But I didn't go that way. If I went down Silent Grove Road, by the old pump station I got to see a pretty little creek and the trees hung over the road like a lane in Merry Old England. I've never been to England, but I have seen pictures and they look just like the back way!

I inherited the love of backroads from my Dad. He knew every dirt road in Boone County and knew people all along those roads that he hunted with. It's deer season in Arkansas and this morning you could hear the sound of guns in the distance. It was my Dad's favorite time of the year and he looked forward to being in the "deer woods." There's a sereneness to the woods, just the sound of your footsteps. You are alone with your thoughts and all around you are the things that God has provided for your pleasure. It's a time to reflect on what's really important in your life. Even if you don't bring home a deer you come back a new person.