Day Two Hundred and Fourteen: Traffic Jam

Interstate-35 stretches 450 miles north and south between Kansas and Minnesota.

It is a stretch of road that I have traveled many times, and have come to know well.

I have had tire blow-outs, breaking belts, and engine troubles leave me stranded on its shoulder.

I have driven through blinding blizzards and waved at ten-foot snow drifts as I glided by. I have sought shelter from pelting rain beneath overpasses. I have sung James Taylor songs while seeing fire and rain and sunny days that I thought would never end.

And, more than any other thing, I have seen road construction.

When you're driving on an interstate for over seven hours, it's a given that you will at some point pass the familiar bright-orange triangular signs, blinking arrow lights, or barrels in the road, all foreshadowing an eminent application of the brakes and readjustment of the cruise control down to a sludgy 55 miles per hour.

It is rare, however, that traffic ever comes to a halt on this road.

The only other time I can remember being at a complete stand-still was the night before the dorms opened on my sophomore year of college. An accident miles ahead had caused such a back-up that students everywhere (the roads were full of them at this time of year) were getting out of their cars to stretch their legs, talk to other drivers, and even play a game of catch with a light-up football.

Eventually, ahead in the distance, taillights started blinking and traffic started crawling forward. The game of catch ended and everyone returned to their vehicles, content in the delay because it had given them a story they could recount later, gathered around the dining room table with their dorm buddies.

Today's road-construction delay was not that long - only a brief moment when the tires weren't rolling.

But it gave me a chance to capture this shot of the traffic jam:


See you further on down the road!