Bad Roads make Good Neighbors

Spring continues to creep slowly onto the scene. It only snows a light dusting about once every two weeks. The muddy road is worse than it has ever been, and the wildflower show is about two weeks behind where it was last year. But about every ten days we have one of those spectacular spring-green bluebird days when the sun shines, the birds sing, the flowers bloom and my damp spirits are lifted.

One nice day last week I did a serious spring cleaning, including taking all the rugs out on the grass and hosing and scrubbing them to get all the ground-in dust and mud out. I cleaned and straightened the whole place. The house hasn't been this clean since I moved in. So, you may wonder, what would have possessed me to do all that cleaning? Well, I had invited all the neighbors over to discuss fixing the road.

That's right, last Sunday we had the first ever meeting of the new Tipsue Road Association, which will exist for no other purpose than road maintenance. Most of the neighbors came, and we decided on a plan. Most of those who showed up had ever been inside our cabin, so they were all curious to see it (which of course made me glad I'd cleaned it up). They were all impressed by the light and space and comfort of the place, and we all praised the builders, about whom many had stories to tell. It was a fun social gathering as well as a productive meeting. I was nervous that there would be contention, as these associations sometimes lead to, but everyone was very mellow and friendly and sincerely wanted to do what they could. Once again I was pleased with the friendliness and positive attitudes of my neighbors here. I was quite pleased with myself for getting them together and organized.

Mind you, there is a drawback to being the one who takes the initiative to get things started. They unanimously decided that I would be the one who would do all the setting up of the organization, gathering the first funds from them all, and hiring the contractor to get the work actually done. Just what I needed - another organization be in charge of. Someday I'll learn how to pronounce that mysterious little word, "NO." But I'm glad we have a way to plan for keeping the road usable, which will improve all our lives. And we have gotten to know each other a little better as neighbors, which can only be a good thing.