down an old dirt road

This buddy of mine, who fancied himself a race car driver, would instruct me on how to drive my dad's pick-up truck home from school each day. We often found ourselves on old dirt roads out in the county, some with right-angle curves. This is where I learned the art of "hole-shotting"; not sure where the name comes from, but basically you come to a complete stop then put the pedal to the metal while turning through the curve. The goal is to send the gravel flying-and to a lesser degree, keep the vehicle on the road.

I love dirt roads. By their nature, you have to go slow. You have to take in the scenery.....and if you don't have AC, slow to keep dust from coming in the windows. Some of the best dirt roads are narrow one-laners, that tend to wind with the geography. I love that you can hear the gravel crunching under tire, and occasionally the "ping" of a rock hitting the wheel-well. They remind me of those "hole-shotting" days, the gravel road leading to fish pond I went to with gramps, the one by my great aunt's house where we went mushrooming.

The next time you're speeding along the highway and see off in the distance a trail of dust from an old pick-up..........think about pulling off and going for a drive, one that will heighten your senses.