Looking at the road

We all have our perceptions of what the world is telling us based on our frame of reference. When I’m at the lake, I get to see the world through nature.

To sit on the dock or the deck and look north to the lake as I go through my day is almost expected. There are days however that it’s much more comfortable and pleasant to look south at the gravel cabin road framed by towering trees and bush. This is when the strong northwest wind blows, howling at life, when the waves scream and pound the shore as if banging at the door. This call from nature cannot go unheard.

Recently I was out at my cousin’s farm. They live along a major north/south route and were always sheltered from the traffic because of space and trees. Over the years the road became much more traveled and there was need to expand it to a divided highway. They agreed to exchange their land and buffer for a lake. Part of the agreement was to use earth as fill for the road construction. On the flat prairie where the summer sun beats down, a lake is treasured, so as a result of highway construction, a lake formed on their property. Beach sand, a dock and an amazing dare-devil ramp stretching 20 feet from lake to sky, hosting the summer trials for many local teen competitions, also took shape.

It could appear that the road brings unwanted noise, traffic and is an intrusion.
It could be that the road provides access and connection.
The road could open new lakes and grant us opportunity for a different perspective.

It may not be the road that is important, but the implications and attitude toward it that are.