It’s officially spring time and there are lots of ways we are being told that. One of the telling factors of spring is not shared by all. If you happen to live on a non-hard surface road, aka a “dirt road”, you may have another happening to assure you its spring time.

We currently do need to drive on that type of road in all 3 directions from our home to get to hard surface roads. I also grew up with that type of road going past my home farm place. Back in the “old days” in rural farm country one of the main spring topics was not if the trees were greening up or were your tulips coming up. It was “how bad do you think the FROST BOILS will be this year”. Yes, that is the name given to areas in a road that gets all soft, messy looking, bubbly, boiling look and very hard to drive through at this time of year. This happens because the wrong soil composition was used in the road construction and it has taken in a lot of moisture and held it in place. Winter time then freezes the water in the soil and the thawing process raises holy heck with the “bad” soil in the spring melt. Our roads that are affected in this area that I have seen are still driveable but you totally need to slow down, drive careful and for sure hang on to the steering wheel.

Now back in my youthful days in central Minnesota, almost all of the farm country roads were not paved and road construction was not as scientific or as careful as it should have been on the township roads. We lived on the top of one of the highest hills around but just beyond our driveway was an area by the river that once in awhile caused problems, but about a half mile away was a real BAD BOY/GIRL! In the few rare good years you could drive through it, but most years it became totally impassable. I am talking about an area taking up about 20 feet of the road that looked like a boiling mass of rocks and dirt that you could look down into. It was a local attraction to come and look at the “boil”. This was part of road we needed to use to get to almost anywhere so we experienced a lock down way back then.

I remember one year I so wanted to go to church for an Easter Day event because we could wear our First Communion dresses and carry a candle. I REALLY WANTED to go, (mainly to wear the dress I am sure) but of course that was not going to happen. I offered to walk the mile and half and take my dress in a bag but my dad said NO to that. Both sides of the boil were a watery swamp and we were told that the materials in the boil were like quick sand. It usually took a few good heavy rains and lots of road work to get the areas packed back in place to await another spring time flare up. It was a true miracle when that country road got black topped in Morrison County and days of the “boil” came to an end. Did not get to see the neighbors as often.

If roads are not constructed with the correct materials and black topped, boils are still possible but much more rare. It may be an area where the blacktop always breaks up in the spring and creates potholes. It could also be a blacktop problem where the cracks allow the water to easily enter and the freeze thaw cycle works its magic.

I have become a crazy “new car” owner and have not been taking out the yellow Mustang. On a day when the roads were frozen we took it in for a wash and shine and drove home kind of slow. I have been offering to take the pickup so Yellow Pet can stay in the garage all safe and clean from the dirt roads. I know I will be taking it out later once the roads dry up but then the dust will be a factor. I also know that I will be getting over this felling after a bit more time. The need to get out and crank up the sound system and get some fresh air will overtake me. Best on a hard surface road!