The Rocky Roads
~ by Mark Blackwell
The Term“ rocky road” has been used as a metaphor, a simile, and an analogy for everything from marriage, ice cream, and life itself. It conveys a picture of a rough, unimproved, unpaved pathway. A lot of the roads in Brown County are like that. The road I live on was described in a 1920s guide book as“ a succession of serpentine twists and turns … and has many bare rocks and ruts.” But, like many of the roads in the County, my road is more gravely than rocky now.
But, going back to that metaphor for life itself, I can testify that life is much like my road. It has certainly been a series of twists and turns and has had some seriously“ rocky” patches. One of those patches came up about ten years ago or so. I was going through one of my post-mid-life crises and came up with an amazing solution to a problem concerning the thirty-six mile commute I was driving to Bloomington and back to the ridge. This was back when gasoline was running about $ 4.00 a gallon and my wages were stagnating.
I studied on the problem of my eroding income for a good bit and then it hit me. Being a more or less prudent individual I set about working my hypothesis out on paper. It would take an initial outlay of capital but the payback would be substantial and ongoing. I gathered up my calculations and went to talk to my wife about it. I explained that my plan, while not necessarily generating income, would result in a net savings of a substantial amount. She patiently listened to my plan and was remarkably reasonable and understanding right up to the point where she said,“ You are not getting a motorcycle.”
I was stunned. I thought that my argument was irresistibly persuasive. My pickup truck was running at about
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44 Our Brown County Nov./ Dec. 2016