Thursday, January 03, 2008

Traffic


“Traffic is just a fact of life, Gramma. You have to get used to it when you’re here in New Martinsville. There is always traffic.”

We are sitting at a signal at the two lane state highway that serves as the main drag of New Martinsville, a small West Virginia town that stretches along the Ohio River. My nine-year old granddaughter has recently moved here from the very small town of Sistersville, where the downtown consists of a Dairy Queen and a drug store and where traffic is non-existent. New Martinsville has several restaurants, a movie theater and a Wal-Mart. My granddaughter thinks it is a big city.

Everything is relative to what we know. This little girl will have a very different view of what is normal than my other grandchildren who are growing up in the heavily populated Washington DC-Baltimore megalopolis. Traffic in this part of the country travels on 12 lane highways that aren’t able to handle the rush hour crawl.

What is heavy traffic where you live? Do you usually travel on small country roads or multi-lane freeways? How does traffic affect your life?

The picture shows my little country girl and me after a trip to Wal-Mart.

5 comments:

rosemary said...

Well, we left the freeway state to move to the in reverse state. But, tourists and rich people have discovered our little town and a busy traffic day is taking an hour to go 5 miles to get out of town on our 1 lane of highway 95. A girl I worked with thought the tri cities in Washingtom were the big city....would make me laugh when she said she was going to the city to shop.

Simon said...

Hi Mom, and thanks for stopping by on my blog. Seeing as you were kind enough to let me know a little about you, Im a 35 year old married man with one son. I live in West London (about 8 miles outside the West End where all the theatres and shops are) and work as a software developer. I have now added your blog to my list of daily sites to check out, so you'll be hearing from me fairly regularly! Have a good day.

Casdok said...

Didnt you do well!
I live not far from a 3 lane motor way, if there is an accident my toen comes to a stand still.

Sling said...

I grew up in Los Angeles..'Nuff said.
Now I live in a small town,much like New Martinsville.
Traffic means that you should remember to open your eyes when crossing Main Street,..just in case.
Okay,it has gotten a little congested over the last few years,but there isn't anyplace in O-Town I can't get to in 20 minutes riding my bicycle.

Lorraine said...

We have some of the worst traffic in the nation. I avoid the freeway whenever possible because it isn't faster than taking less crowded surface streets. But then, I pretty much have my 3 or 4 basic routes for school, work, church, errands and I've got it down.

Which reminds me that I actually really, really enjoy driving.