Rustic

Rene's been out of town for a couple of days and won't be back for several more. This morning, I called my friend Brenda to give her a recipe she asked for and she invited me to come over to her son Max's 3rd birthday party tonight. It was just family and a friend or two. I had a great time--yummy food and conversation with actual live human beings plus I got to play with Max, Levi and Aimee.

Brenda and her family live in our ward, yet it takes 45 minutes to get to her house. As I drove up there, I was reminded of a Wisconsin-ism that always makes me smile. Let me explain. To get to Brenda's, I drive north on I39/51 to Highway K. Then northwest on K to Q; then west on Z and north on Snow Hill Rd. to Highway 64. A quick jog eastward on 64 brings you to E, where you turn north. Stay on E to Tesch, then north to Ollhoff, which is their road. Here's where I have to smile. I can always tell when I get to Tesch because there is this sign:




No kidding!! Tesch is gravel; Ollhoff is just plain old dirt. It makes me laugh. You can see this "Rustic Road" sign all over in Wisconsin. Here's what the State of Wisconsin has to say about it:


"There are a few requirements that a road must have in order to be designated as a rustic road, such as having outstanding natural features or areas that set the road apart from other roads, be lightly traveled and not be scheduled for a major improvement that would change it's rustic characteristics." Haha....They have actually figured out a way to excuse lack of improvement on some rural roads and make it sound legitimate.


In central Ohio, the area we lived in was very rural and there were plenty of gravel and/or dirt roads. In fact, Crooked Street just down the hill from us was unpaved after the first farm. I wonder if anyone ever thought to designate it "rustic?"