The spring rains came this week without the drainage work complete.  The water swelled on the corner of our property and found its way down the culvert which has only been partially dug.  When it finally reached the completed part, it became a waterfall, much to the delight of my little Kimmy.  Annie calls it Niagara Falls – the American side.  And it does remind me of the American falls.  I’ve been to Niagara Falls oodles of times, and they had become somewhat “old hat” until the last time I visited there.  Niagara Falls has the reputation of romance and love.  And I have to say that the last time I was there I did fall in love and have been in it ever since.  Hadn’t thought about it until now, but I guess I could claim a foreign romance since I was in Canada.   

We did a little science expedition to find out where the water goes in about a 5 mile radius.  Our water heads east and goes through the Thompson Springs subdivision and then here in this photo to the Beavers Park.  After that it heads east through what we call The Hundred Acre Woods (we think we have heard Tigger in there) and then out to Lake Lavon. 

On our return home, the redbuds greeted us as we approached our driveway.  Seventeen years ago someone in our church said he had trees in his back yard that were about ten inches tall and would we like to dig them up before he mowed them down.  Here they are years later in spring bloom.  It is a heartache to me that the second one has few blossoms and appears to be dead – something I anticipated over the past two years but still makes me sad.  I love every tree on our land.  There was nothing but prairie grass when we bought the property.  Most of the trees were dug up somewhere or were the end-of-the-year sale at Walmart and just about dead.  Some were nursery cast-offs that we acquired freely. 

On day #2 up came the driveway.  Here is pipe #1. 

Em said she was so sad.  This pipe had belonged to her all of her life.  Now it is going away forever.  She doesn’t want anything to change.

And here is pipe #2.  This whole thing is noisy.  Someone needs to invent a machine that sounds like Bach.  Click here.  road-construction

Once the ground was empty, a series of Legos were fitted together and the dirt replaced.  We were interested to see that on the south side of the driveway we will have a culvert.  On the north side, the Lego pieces continue to connect and we will only have a small dip in the ground.  This means I won’t mind mowing north, but when it comes to the south, there is no way I am going to mow the canyon.  That will be for the brave at heart.

This morning it appeared that something was going to take place.  But where?

For weeks I have wondered which house on our street would have the honor of being the first to have the shovel touch the dirt.  And wouldn’t you know it?  It was the Spangler’s front yard that took the honor!  We were blushing with excitement that we had been chosen to go first.  That was in the morning, but …

In the afternoon the big shovel moved to the other side of the driveway, dug a big hole, and …

Plopped one of the Lego pieces right in our yard!

Something happened on our street.

 I walked down to see them.  Look like giant Legos.  Hey, that’s pretty neat.  Our driveway is going to get its very own Lego.

This morning we watched the first step of construction on our street.   To correct the drainage problem on our street, our town will be changing the landscape a little.  This morning, flags on stiff wires were inserted into the ground to mark something.  Not sure what.  Now my job is to keep the little people in our house from playing Capture the Flag.  I am very glad for the mess we are going to deal with over the next two months.  While our house does get some water in the yard in heavy rain, it is really for my neighbor that I am glad as her backyard is troublesome when it happens.  So I will be very glad to be inconvenienced for these weeks while the solution is being landscaped into our turf.

As I thought about road this morning, I was reminded that we are walking a pilgrimage here on earth and at times things seem rather shakey.  Sometimes we see the future as bleak because we know that our nation has turned from God and the results have not been good and the downhill snowball is gaining momentum.  The waters are murky and we await an avalanche of trouble.  I am reminded, however, that in Pilgrim’s Progress the pilgrims, Christian and Hopeful, are crossing the scary, rushing river with the Celestial City just on the other side.  Christian is overwhelmed and begins to sink, but Hopeful cries out, “Be of good cheer.  I feel the bottom, and it is good.”

There are things that happen in this world that shatter our lives, break our hearts, and cause much grief.  We either go into denial, or we try to defend ourselves and be swallowed in self-sufficient efforts.  Instead, let me encourage you to place at least one toe on the bottom and say with me, “I feel the bottom, and it is good.”  And here is the bottom your toe feels: 

God only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.
In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.

Psalm 62:6-8

Road News #1

Last night, the Town Engineer of Fairview met with local residents to propose a drainage solution on Seattle Slew Lane.  Mr. and Mrs. Spangler commented on the meeting by saying, “We have prayed for this for ten years.”  Construction on the street will begin in two weeks and will last for two months.  The Spangler children are thrilled with losing their driveway for several weeks as it will give them opportunity to carry all the groceries to their home from the street.  They also look forward to watching bulldozers form a new culvert drainage system and install new pipe by drilling underneath the road to the opposite side.  In addition, the availability of mud is attractive, although Mrs. Spangler made no comment on that one.  The downside is that fewer frogs will be hatching at street-side in the future resulting in fewer pets on the Spangler’s porch. 

Asked why they bought such watery property in the first place, the Spanglers replied by revealing the fact that they had taken a video of the land back in 1991 during the rainy season and after 10 days of pouring rain had walked every property for sale and chose the driest one.   Later housing construction on adjoining streets altered the drainage on the land along with repairs to the road that eliminated existing drainage areas.  In 2004, technological advances brought about the construction of a remote terminal on the street that further clogged things up.  The Spanglers have concluded that the old saying “what you see is what you get” is only a temporary statement.

The residents of Seattle Slew are thankful that Lake Fairview will soon be a thing of the past.  Lake Lavon is close enough. 

Other advancements in the area are down the road.  Stacy Road, which connects with Seattle Slew, will begin construction soon.  This three lane concrete road will have a turning lane and room for bicyclists as Stacy Road is a major fare way for bicycle clubs.   The fire station on Stacy has just broken ground along with a new water tower.   This flies in the face of realtors who 17 years ago told the Spanglers that the area would be undesirable, the roads would be pot-holed, and that Central Expressway which connects with Stacy, would be a dead area.  Instead, the New Villages of Fairview with anchor stores of JCPenney and Macy’s, along with the newest Whole Foods Market in the nation, have indeed proven the fact that realtors are not prophets but salesmen.  Purchasing cheap property might not be a bad idea at all.  Just ask the Spanglers!

Road News #2

Excerpts From World Net Daily: 

Sudden death for NAFTA highway plan
‘To be clear, the Trans-Texas Corridor as it is known, no longer exists’

Tens of thousands of opponents to a NAFTA highway project that would have crossed Texas with a corridor the width of four football fields have been given good news by the state: the Trans-Texas Corridor plan is being dropped.

Official word came from Amadeo Saenz Jr., the chief of the Texas Department of Transportation. during the state’s annual transportation forum in Austin this week.

The $184 billion TTC project originally called for a 4,000-mile network of transportation corridors, 1,200 feet wide, to be built across Texas. The plan would have taken about a half million agricultural acres out of private hands, leading to a maelstrom of objections from Texas landowners

“Major corridor projects will now be comprised of several small segments closer to 600 feet wide and will no longer be called the Trans-Texas Corridor. Instead, the department will use the highway numbers originally associated with each segment, such as I-69, SH 130 and Loop 9.”

Hope’s Note:  Could this be true?  Has the TransTex Corridor been dropped?  Having researched this since 2002 and having frequently been on every major website  that details the super highway, I wondered if the Corridor could truly be dead as reported.  This morning I visited numerous official Texas Department of Transportation sites, and poured over keeptexasmoving.com which is the major vehicle for public information on the Corridor and concluded that the report from World Net Daily is not conservative enough.  “Dropped” is the incorrect verb to use.  “Somewhat Reduced” would be an accurate description.  Comparing maps ingrained in my brain from former visits, including those I have printed out in my files, with the current maps for both 35 and 69 on the revised website, the routes have remained the same.  The project has only been scaled back due to the economy and Alamo-minded Texans who will fight for their land to their last breath.   Hmmm.  That means we need more Alamo-minded Texans out on the farms and in the state government.   Let’s raise our sons to be Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie.

The other thought that came to my mind is how important words are.  The TransTex Corridor has such a bad reputation that any revised plan needs a fresh name so here it is:  Innovative Connectivity in Texas/Vision 2009.    This whole thing reminds me of ice cream.  Reduce the size of the container, change the price a little, add some new flavors.  It’s a twist on the old product but packaged differently and it sells.  Advice:  Stick with Blue Bell.  It’s still a half gallon, still gold rimmed, and still the same great flavors year round.  That way you know what you are getting and you have the choice to buy or not.  Do Texans really know what they are getting with Innovative Connectivity?  If the economy picks back up, will the revised plan inch over toward the original plan?  Both TTC-35 and I-69 TTC link directly into Mexico with the revised plan.  The original plan was to have goods (and possibly people in closed trucks) come in from Mexico, unchecked until they entered Kansas City and has this been cancelled?  I suggest that it is pre-mature to throw a TransTex Death Party.

Road News #3

Here is old road news that is still the best road news.

Psalm 16:11  Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Psalm 25:10  All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

Psalm 119:35  Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.

Psalm 119:105  Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Proverbs 3:5,6  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Proverbs 4:18  But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

Road News #4

By Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Tow roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.