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Lane closed… Construction ahead!
No, we didn’t count how often we encountered it. But we did notice that people seem to see a sign beneath it reading, “Prizes awarded to those who get to the point of merging first!”
We are left to ponder the competitive nature of our society in general. A distant cousin in the Netherlands posted this morning about her son being bullied during his elementary school career. I think there’s a correlation here. (Not between road closings in the U.S. and schools in Holland, but between the constant competition and bullying.)
I might also be tired of driving. Today is our third day with a low goal of 250 miles. I can do this. I’m not excited about it but I can do this. Wait! Is that a form of competing with myself?
Life is not just about setting records.
As another example, I never intended to publish daily. (I did intend to keep a daily journal.) But here I am. I did look at today’s route and it does include some “non-Interestate” miles. Somehow, that’s a relief. Stopping for traffic lights seems better than being squeezed out by people who want to get there first.
I did need to refuel yesterday. The Ram has a range of 600 miles on a tank of gas! And we are averaging 20 MPG, even with all the merging and 10 MPH speeds.
But it would be nice to slow down because we want to and not because we have to!