A country driveway poses problems for deliveries and sometimes
friends
People don’t seem to realize that life in the country is not all
that it’s cracked up to be. Oh sure, it’s fine if you’re talking
about enjoying the peace and quiet, the trees and the wildflowers,
and the birds and the wildlife.
A country driveway poses problems for deliveries and sometimes friends
People don’t seem to realize that life in the country is not all that it’s cracked up to be. Oh sure, it’s fine if you’re talking about enjoying the peace and quiet, the trees and the wildflowers, and the birds and the wildlife.
But then you have other problems. Like driveways.
I live at the top of a little hill. Connecting me to the outside world is a long, curved, somewhat steep driveway, known to grow slippery moss in the winter and to be somewhat less hazardous in the summer.
Now I have never considered mine to be a truly terrible driveway. Believe me, there are some driveways around Aromas and San Juan Bautista that are pretty awful, especially the unpaved ones during the wet winter months. There you are talking about some really dangerous conditions, going over huge ruts with little to hold you back but some gravel thrown down for traction.
Mine, at least, is paved, albeit cracked and old. However, there are other problems. The driveway is a trifle narrow for large vehicles, and the steep curve bothers a lot of people who aren’t used to it.
The UPS man isn’t afraid of the driveway and easily comes up in his truck. But the FedEx lady is decidedly more cautious. She won’t attempt it, instead parking at the bottom of the hill and walking up with the package.
Some of my friends are also scared of my driveway and do likewise.
And then there are the people who should be scared of the driveway and are not sufficiently scared. Like the numerous tradesmen who have insisted that they can easily back down the driveway. Most of them run off the edge and get stuck, leading to urgent calls to tow truck companies and several hours worth of hassle.
I am in the process of trying to figure out what to do about the driveway. I thought about getting it chip sealed, but the budget won’t allow it at present.
However, I did dig up several old car tires that had been placed around the edge of the driveway’s curve years ago by my father, who thought the tires would help hold the edge in place.
They didn’t, really, and looked funky to boot. So the tires are going to the dump.
But now I have several big tire-shaped holes that look like they could cause mayhem to a car, just like those Allstate Insurance commercials keep talking about, and so now the holes need filling.
That’s the problem when you start doing something. It leads to something else, and something else, and then you’re looking at some actual work.
I am mulling the issue of the holes and the best way to handle them, and in the meantime, praying that the UPS man doesn’t try to come up the driveway.
The whole thing makes me wonder why the original owners of the property never bothered to put in a good driveway in the first place. Apparently, or so I’ve heard through the local grapevine, the wife didn’t want the oak trees on the property to be touched.
The oak trees are pretty spectacular, and I can see where she was coming from, but heavens to Murgatroyd – there are a lot of oak trees here. Taking out one or two would not have made the slightest bit of difference.
At any rate, I’m not going to renovate the entire driveeway at this point, so I’m working with what I have. Now I am debating the merits of asphalt patch versus just throwing down some crushed granite along the holey side.
Either one involves work, which I’m not too excited about. But it’s part of life in the country – at least my life.
