The Road Oft Taken

The sun shines down in to the windows of my car on one of the rare sunny spring days in Corvallis. I look up at the sky, grateful for the forethought of my sunglasses, and admire the bright blue expanse dotted with white cotton ball clouds. I quickly return my attention to the road, scanning Harrison Boulevard for joggers running the wrong way in the bike lane. This stretch of the road is far smoother than the section between 29th and Kings, but the bike lanes are edged with ditches and not quite wide enough to accommodate the runners who frequent it. Perhaps they enjoy exercising with cows on one side and cars on the other. I’m not inclined to pull over and ask; I just keep driving and try my best not to hit them. 

I have driven this road for years now — on my way to and from the high school, to go to grocery stores, and to visit friends’ houses — and I still drive along Harrison to get almost anywhere in town. The OSU fields to the South are home to a herd of lovely cows, which are so sweet looking, laying down in the shade on hot days. Rarely, I’ll spot a blue heron or an egret perched in the grasses, hunting for its next meal. Harrison is not my favorite road in town (joggers, students, and poor maintenance make it somewhat of a pain to use sometimes), but it has become so familiar to me that I cannot help but feel fond of it. I am often struck with a sensation of contentedness with my life as I drive by the fields with the sun shining in and a blue sky in the distance.