New Roads

Growing up in Milton, Wisconsin, there were frequent, almost daily trips to nearby Janesville.  When I was in high school, one of the roads from Milton to Janesville was torn up and then redone.  A day or so after it was finished, my dad and I were heading to Janesville to run some errands, and my dad asked me, "What do your friends think of this road?"  I was driving, so I glanced quickly in his direction and then returned my eyes to the road.  I replied, "Um, I don't know what they think of it."  He laughed before joking, "You mean you don't talk about the quality of the roads with your friends?!?!"  I told him that no, in fact, my friends and I spent no time talking about roads.  He and I laughed and laughed about the absurdity of a group of high school kids talking about this topic.

I still can't drive on a newly finished road without thinking of my dad.  In fact, I have called him more than once when I've been on a road trip to let him know how great a particular stretch of road is.  Einar and I even laughed about this during our recent trip to Minnesota, commenting to each other and laughing about how nice the new 35W bridge is!  It's amazing to me how often this topic has come up in conversation during my adult life, and each time it does, I laugh.