A beautiful and very wet Baldwin County dirt road.
Although it may be muddy driving during this rainy summer, it looks peaceful and quiet after the storm.
I know the nice folks who live at the end of this road, who grow
peaches and pecans, among other things.
They sit behind me in church, and their daughter was my son’s teacher.
I love driving past a long dirt road and knowing who anchors the other end.
It connects the dots that make Fairhope home.
Here’s what Paul Harvey had to say about dirt roads.
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What’s mainly wrong with society today is that too many Dirt Roads have been paved.
There’s not a problem in America today, crime, drugs, education, divorce, delinquency that wouldn’t be remedied, if we just had more Dirt Roads, because Dirt Roads give character.
People that live at the end of Dirt Roads learn early on that life is a bumpy ride.
That it can jar you right down to your teeth sometimes, but it’s worth it, if at the end is home…a loving spouse, happy kids and a dog.Â
 We wouldn’t have near the trouble with our educational system if our kids got their exercise walking a Dirt Road with other kids, from whom they learn how to get along.There was less crime in our streets before they were paved.
Criminals didn’t walk two dusty miles to rob or rape, if they knew they’d be welcomed by 5 barking dogs and a double barrel shotgun.
And there were no drive by shootings.
Our values were better when our roads were worse!
People did not worship their cars more than their kids, and motorists were more courteous, they didn’t tailgate by riding the bumper or the guy in front would choke you with dust & bust your windshield with rocks.
Dirt Roads taught patience.
Dirt Roads were environmentally friendly, you didn’t hop in your car for a quart of milk you walked to the barn for your milk.
For your mail, you walked to the mail box.Â
What if it rained and the Dirt Road got washed out? That was the best part, then you stayed home and had some family time, roasted marshmallows and popped popcorn and pony rode on Daddy’s shoulders and learned how to make prettier quilts than anybody.At the end of Dirt Roads, you soon learned that bad words tasted like soap.
Most paved roads lead to trouble, Dirt Roads more likely lead to a fishing creek or a swimming hole.
At the end of a Dirt Road, the only time we even locked our car was in August, because if we didn’t some neighbor would fill it with too much zucchini.
At the end of a Dirt Road, there was always extra springtime income, from when city dudes would get stuck, you’d have to hitch up a team and pull them out.
Usually you got a dollar…always you got a new friend…at the end of a Dirt Road!
~by Paul Harvey~
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Good day.
Sharing at: From My Front Porch To Yours, The Tablescaper, Sunny Simple Life, Six Sister’s Stuff, Cozy Little House, Cedar Hill Ranch
What a nice post! Wise words. As newcomer to the south, I am always so surprised when I see that bright orange color on the ground.
I miss Paul Harvey! Years ago, I timed my lunch hour so I could listen to his broadcast. Thank you for this lovely reminder and insightful wisdom. I was born in a house on a dirt road. Paul Harvey is right — it’s never been the same since that road was paved!
There are still a few dirt roads around here. Enjoyed the Paul Harvey post. What red soil in the photo!
Love dirt roads and wish there were more of them these days! Love Paul Harvey!!!
Blessings,
Cindy
This is a GREAT post. My favorite dirt road was the one that ran between our farm and my Uncle’s farm. There were many dreams that played through my mind as I walked the 3 miles to visit my cousin on a hot summer day- hurrying between shady patch to shady patch….stopping to peek into the old barn that sometimes housed a litter of wild kittens. Oh-yes- I miss the old dirt roads of my childhood. xo Diana
That looks so much like my parents drive.
Wonderful post and so true. When my husband was in seminary in New Orleans, we would come back to Magnolia Springs on the weekend. I love arriving on Highway 27 (now 181). No matter the time, we would roll down the windows to smell the Baldwin County dirt. I smell car fumes now and not the dirt. I miss it.
Aha! My GPS still says it’s 27. When I first moved here I kept getting lost. Now I know why. 😛
My parents remembered going to the beach back in the days when the only way to get there was via a dirt road! I imagine it was much less crowded then…:)
Beautiful. My grandparents, aunt and uncle and cousin, and great-aunt all lived on the same dirt road. I used to walk to the barn or the creek or the pond. I learned to drive sitting on my grandfather’s lap, on that same dirt road.
What nice memories!
I am so glad I came back to read this one. Our beloved yellow house is on a gravel road that is bumpy and washes out. There are no street lights here and we like that. The bank, at first refused to finance the house because of the gravel road. Had I had Paul Harvey’s essay above I would have given it to them.
And I also love no street lights. We almost shot one out with a BB gun at our last house. You can see so many more stars!!!
We still have a few dirt roads around our house in the middle of nowhere central Illinois :). My husband farms and talks about all the dirt roads that used to be around. I’m a city girl transplanted to the country so to me it still looks like we have lots of dirt roads. Love Paul Harvey!
We used to see dirt roads this color while visiting my husband’s family in Mississippi.