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It was interesting to relive the days of the infamous 1930s Dust Bowl last summer. (I say last summer because fall officially started on Wednesday, September 22.)
With the lack of rain, this summer has been quite dry and this has resulted in a lot of dusty conditions, especially for those who live on gravel roads.
Like me.
Although I live in the town of Blue Earth, my 10th Street side street was under construction most of the summer resulting in clouds of dust that swept through the backyards and neighboring houses almost all of them. the last three months. Much of this came from all the digging of water and sewer pipes and other construction work.
In full disclosure, my neighbors and I now have a beautiful concrete street and we are so grateful that the project looks like it can be done before the snow blows away.
But, the dust bowl conditions persist. You see, I actually live on Main Street, and the intersection with 10th Street (and also Bartel Drive for that matter) was one of the first things to be demolished and worked up this summer; in fact, it was in May. There was a gravel surface all summer. Don’t want to complain, it’s been nice that Main Street has been open to traffic for the past few months (and was open in time for the Giant Days Parade), but the cloud of dust has been something to see. Or actually not seeing, because it’s hard to see through all the dust.
There is a lot of traffic on the main street. I mean they don’t call her “main” street for nothing. And unfortunately, not many people slow down when they reach this gravel intersection. Trucks, in particular, can create quite a cloud of dust as they fly over gravel. Most of the time, the dust cloud never seems to dissipate.
We tried to maintain dust control back home, but honestly we gave up.
When I look out my windows in the morning I sometimes think we have fog for the day, but that’s just the layer of dust on the glass. And if we try to open the windows in good weather, well, dust starts to cover everything inside our house.
When I mow my lawn (which, it is true, must not have been true often this dry summer), clouds of dust which the mower has sucked from the grass surround me. I once looked across the street and saw my neighbor mowing and she was also enveloped in a cloud of dust. At least I think it was her. It could have been someone else, as it was hard to say for sure for all the dust.
The hostas and other plants in our garden seemed to turn from green to tan, but then we found out that they were just covered in dust and needed watering every now and then.
And keep vehicles clean? Forget that.
I know what our readers are saying who live in the countryside on a gravel road. “Welcome to our world.” I understand now. Passing traffic creates dust. However, the traffic in the country probably doesn’t compare to the relentless amount of cars, trucks and motorcycles traveling on Main, even in a relatively small town like Blue Earth.
OK, whining enough, you are probably saying all. And I agree. Construction projects in Blue Earth (and elsewhere in the county) are nearing completion. In some cases, only grassed sidewalks and boulevards remain.
And, maybe some good ol ‘bituminous at the intersections of Main Street and elsewhere in the city will be finished soon. I mean, it will be soon in October …
And hopefully soon, the days of the Dust Bowl of 2021 will be a distant memory.
Clearly, I think Blue Earth’s city council plan to rebuild several blocks of city streets each summer is good. They have a plan on how to fund this work which seems to be working well. And, frankly, the city’s streets (and the infrastructure beneath the streets) are in dire need of modernization and replacement.
Ditto for the whole canton. It is good to see the County Council also working on upgrading many of the county’s highways and having a plan for the future. Some departmental roads are quite rough and in poor condition.
The commissioners are certainly aware of this and are in the process of developing a plan to improve the roads in the county. They are now looking at an idea that would quickly accomplish many needed improvements.
So, I guess I’m more than willing to put up with a bit of dust and inconvenience to get these upgrades done.
I hope you are too, when it is your turn to have a construction project in your neighborhood.
While it’s a bit of a pain while this is going on, it looks good when it’s all done.
Of course, so maybe I should do a little window washing …
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