Long Dirt Road: Why it Takes me an Hour to Drive 12 Miles

This is a post from a few years ago that I love, so I’m reposting it. We live down a long dirt road. This little facet of our lives is the main thing that makes or breaks most newcomers to rural life.

It takes a long time to go anywhere, if you go slow enough to spare the vehicle’s suspension and tires, and every other nut and bolt on the chassis. You gotta love the long dirt road for offering a chance to transition from the ordinary world into the magical realm of these hills, though.

Or vice versa. It gives you a chance to readjust on your way out of the magic and into the mundane.

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Today was an ordinary summer day in July. I went to the post office.

It’s only 12 miles to the post office in our little town.

6 of those miles are by dirt road. It’s a long dirt road.

My average speed on the dirt stretch is 10 mph, but I slow down for the rough spots. So for just that portion of the trip, it already makes up for more than 30 minutes. The remaining 6 miles of pavement only takes 10 minutes or less, depending on whether there are cows, tractors, or deer in the road.

On a direct trip with no distractions, it’s about a 90-minute round trip, if you add the time spent getting the mail posted. And that’s if I only go to the post office and back.

But that rarely happens.

I hadn’t even gotten the car started yet when I saw the Lamb’s Quarters and remembered I had my camera, right there on the seat beside me. Imagine that.

So just as I was getting back in the car to get started down the road, I saw a milkvine right beside the truck!

The first time I saw one of these plants it took a bit of sleuthing and questioning various plant people. Finally the good folks over at the Hobbs State Park put me in touch with someone at the UofA Herbarium who knew it, and she told me about the wonderful group at FB founded by Susie Westerman-Dunn. So if any of you want to have a peer support group to help you learn to identify plants, here’s a link to the ANP FB group.

The peculiar thing about this vine is that if you touch the underside of the leaves, they have a very strong odor. Until you touch it, it doesn’t seem to have any scent. I haven’t seen this mentioned in any of the information I’ve found about the plant. Although it doesn’t mention the smell, there’s a nice write-up on anglepod at Arkansas Native Plants.

So okay, maybe everyone doesn’t scratch and sniff all the interesting things they encounter, but I do. Lots of things to do on a ride down a long dirt road.

Finally I finished looking and taking photos of the plants right there and got into the car.

I managed to get a few miles down the road. But then I saw the wild hydrangea blooming.

And there was the interesting configuration of roots of the old sycamore tree on the edge of the embankment, too…

And both the yellow and orange jewelweed were blooming.

And, well, look at that, the Joe-Pye weed was almost blooming too.

I had to stop and eat a few of the ripe raspberries, of course. But before I did that, I took their photo, too. A long dirt road seems to grow longer with so many things to do and see along the way.

While gathering the berries I noticed a cute little arrangement of ferns and moss growing on a rock.

After this I drove a little more and saw how pretty the chicory and Queen Anne’s Lace looked growing together on the side of the road.

There also was some bouncing bet blooming, so I got out to take some pics of that, and while I was there I saw a nice bear claw rock. I put that in my pocket even though it was a bit dirty with clay and sand. Not really sure *why* I felt the need to collect that rock. It’s not like there aren’t plenty of them at home always underfoot. But I did, and so I did.

There was also a pretty little morning glory flower with dew on it and I thought that would make a nice picture too.

I’m not even one way down this long dirt road yet. Imagine. I still have to finish this and make the same trip back in!

If you’re still with me on this little trip to the post office, I guess you’re beginning to get the idea of why it takes so long!

Then I drove a little farther and finally made it to the plant I brought the camera to photograph in the first place. The black cohosh would be blooming and I figured that I’d get some pics of it on my way.

And so now my mission was complete. Oh, except for the post office. I still had to do that. And yes, it’s 4th of July today, but I started writing this post days ago!

There’s still the trip back in on this long dirt road, too. I’m sure there’s more things to see that I missed on the way out.

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