The Road To Hillmomba Is Paved With Farmer H's Intentions

Our gravel roads are in bad shape for not really having much of a winter yet. We've only had a week or two of freezing and thawing, but the potholes down by the creek are a bone-jarring force to be reckoned with. Several people have been voicing their concerns (complaining) on the Facebook page of our enclave. Saying that we need to have gravel hauled in.

Farmer H and a few other residents used to use their tractors and blade the roads. They'd go door-to-door and ask for donations for gravel. Let the record show that they volunteered their time and tractors and gas, and that every cent was spent on the gravel, at a discount because one of our former residents hauls gravel in his dump truck.

Anyhoo... back then, it was soon apparent which families paid a fair share, and which ones were freeloaders. Nobody begrudged the less income-fortunate for their smaller donations. At least they made the effort. Of course the biggest complainers were those who never gave one red cent.

Anyhoo... some of Farmer H's road crew has moved away, others have aged or have different jobs without much time for working on the roads. Farmer H's "good" tractor is parked over at Pony House, and he's busy with that project. But when he saw the call for gravel, Farmer H picked up the phone, and the very next day had a load delivered down by the creek, at the cost of $175. That's a fair amount as gravel goes around here.

"I got the 2-Inch-Plus. Because I know how that mud down by the creek eats up gravel. That smaller stuff would be gone in no time. Whoever has been blading the roads doesn't do it right. They need to blade the sides, not the middle. That just spreads the gravel off the edges. I used to cut a ditch along the side, for the water to run. Then you dump the rock down the middle, and people driving on it spread it to the edges."

"Well, you're not doing it now. So at least somebody is trying."

"Yeah. That's true."

"Why did you put it down by the creek?"

"Because everybody drives on that part. It would be stupid to put it in front of our field, because then people complain that you only bought gravel for your own part. Even though they drive on it too."

"You have to admit, ours is some of the worst part of the road! That guy with a tractor was out there filling potholes last week."

"Yeah, but more people drive on the other part. If enough of them order gravel, we'll eventually work our way up here. I was surprised that one load went so far."

"It DID go pretty far."

"So the next load can get dumped right where it left off."

"I bet nobody else orders any, now that the main problem area has rock!"

"They may not. 15 people seen where I said I had that load of rock hauled on Facebook."

"Did you tell them how much you paid? And who hauled it?"

"Yes. And two people messaged me and said they'd give me money to get more rock. But I ain't doin' that! I told them the guy's name, and they can arrange it theirself. I'm not going to be the one for people to complain to about the roads! Two of them said they'd give me $100 for rock. That ain't even a whole load. They can get it, and decide where it goes. Some of them think if they pay, it should go in front of their house."

Anyhoo... we'll see if more gravel magically appears.