Country Roads
Avoid the asphalt for an authentic trip in the country.
A quiet rural lane beats a paved highway any day.
Turn off the main highway onto a dirt road and you’re in the real country. Dust kicks up behind the car, obscuring the road in the rearview mirror. You slow down and begin to notice the simplicity unfolding in front of you.
Growing up on a dairy farm in Pulteney, New York, I was proud to live on a dirt road. My friends in the small towns around us were surrounded by tar and pavement. While the ride was much smoother for cars and bikes, it was also busier—and, dare I say, ordinary?
The positives of living on a dirt road far outweigh the negatives. Most people avoid driving on back roads, freeing up miles for safe horseback riding or easy walking without worrying about traffic. You’re more likely to be passed by tractors, and they drive so slowly that they don’t create much dust. Country roads also are the perfect place to learn how to drive. Manual shifting and Y-turns can be easily mastered without fear of stopping traffic in both directions.
Mostly, though, I appreciate the peacefulness and opportunity to experience the wildlife that find sanctuary here. The sweet songs of the birds aren’t drowned out by the whining of tires.
Dirt roads change with each season. It is an adventure trying to navigate them during a rainy spring. The mud ruts can be so deep that driving too slowly mires your vehicle, leaving you spinning tires in the middle of the road.
I often go out of my way to take country roads, even if it takes me longer. They’re a breath of fresh air away from life’s superhighways.
Recently, while detouring, I got out of my car to stare at the road. Shallow ruts from buggy wheels, faint hoofprints, and thin bike tire tracks told the story of our rural area—the Sunday morning trek to the church down the road of our Old Order Mennonite neighbors, and their children riding bikes to and from school. In the quiet, I imagined the sound of harnesses jangling, hooves pounding and children laughing. Every second standing there was a welcome gift of tranquility in my day.
In Robert Frost’s poem The Road Not Taken, there are two lines that nearly everyone recognizes: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled…” Country roads hold an unmatched charm that I can’t resist, and every chance I get, I, too, choose to take the one less traveled.