Paul Harvey read this on the radio a long time ago…..
“What’s mainly wrong with society today is that too many Dirt Roads have been
paved.
There’s not a problem in America today, crime, drugs, education,
divorce, delinquency that wouldn’t be remedied, if we just had more Dirt Roads,
because Dirt Roads give character.
People that live at the end of Dirt
Roads learn early on that life is a bumpy ride. That it can jar you right down
to your teeth sometimes, but it’s worth it, if at the end is home…a loving
spouse, happy kids and a dog.
We wouldn’t have near the trouble with our
educational system if our kids got their exercise walking a Dirt Road with other
kids, from whom they learn how to get along. There was less crime in our streets
before they were paved. Criminals didn’t walk two dusty miles to rob or rape, if
they knew they’d be welcomed by five barking dogs and a double barrel shotgun.
And there were no drive by shootings.
Our values were better when our
roads were worse! People did not worship their cars more than their kids, and
motorists were more courteous, they didn’t tailgate by riding the bumper or the
guy in front would choke you with dust & bust your windshield with rocks.
Dirt Roads taught patience.
Dirt Roads were environmentally friendly, you
didn’t hop in your car for a quart of milk you walked to the barn for your milk.
For your mail, you walked to the mail box. What if it rained and the Dirt Road
got washed out? That was the best part, then you stayed home and had some family
time, roasted marshmallows and popped popcorn and pony rode on Daddy’s shoulders
and learned how to make prettier quilts than anybody.
At the end of Dirt
Roads, you soon learned that bad words tasted like soap. Most paved roads lead
to trouble, Dirt Roads more likely lead to a fishing creek or a swimming hole.
At the end of a Dirt Road, the only time we even locked our car was in August,
because if we didn’t some neighbor would fill it with too much
zucchini.
At the end of a Dirt Road, there was always extra springtime
income, from when city dudes would get stuck, you’d have to hitch up a team and
pull them out. Usually you got a dollar…always you got a new friend…at the end
of a Dirt Road!”
