Steady

A steady nerve was required to navigate the road next to this behemoth making steady progress digging a six foot wide trench in the road and feeding the resulting rubble via a conveyor belt into a waiting dump truck.

Twenty five years ago an enterprising father went out and made a video of big construction equipment doing what they do...building roads, dams etc. for his young son. They were shaky hand held unedited efforts but they were an instant success. This was before YouTube or even laptops, so I suppose we purchased them in video stores (remember those?). At any rate, Will loved them and they became our dinnertime entertainment for they kept Will in his high chair for long enough for the rest of us to eat our dinner.

With all the destruction and construction around here, I have become quite fascinated by all the gigantic machines designed for a single purpose, a purpose at which they are remarkably effective...front end loaders, with huge buckets, big trucks capable of spraying water over a city block at a single pass, Cherry pickers and chippers and the ever present phalanxes of dump trucks.I wonder why most of them look brand new?

 A giant lighted sign appeared at the beginning of the last stretch of the road which is our connection to downtown. It said EXPECT DELAYS, 4/28-8/1. Just before the sign a choice must be made, risk delays or take the highway. Nobody has seen fit to share with us what exactly they are doing or why they dig holes, fill them up and then dig everything up again, but it appears that they are laying a new sewer line.

This morning traffic was light and although the road was one lane   alternating directions as indicated by flag persons with radios, I drove straight through, glimpsing the giant dinosaur having its morning meal of asphalt dirt and gravel and spitting out the leftovers. Coming home later was another story. I decided to risk the delays and was rewarded with a 10 minute one, idling in the hot sun. The air conditioning in the car was on MAX but didn't seem to be doing much. It was impossible to turn around and go up to the highway. At least I had plenty of time to attempt a picture.

Tomorrow California is supposed get rid of the tier system of Covid restrictions and return to 'normal'. At this point there have been so many bumps and backups in that road that I don't think anybody is really clear on what is allowed, what is not, and, the eternal question, what is normal? I highly recommend Michael Lewis' book Premonition, about the development of a pandemic protocol, the role of the government and some really interesting characters.