Stones in the Road

not the song first made popular by Joan Baez in 1992 or recorded by Mary Chafin Carpenter first in 1994 and now the title of a popular CD.  Nor am I referring to some of the more interesting conversations and debates about sustainable tourism/ecotourism.

I am referring to stones – rocks, those min-boulder objects that can roll under your feet and pitch you to the ground in the dark. With the hours I work, it seems that it is always dark when I am outside. Oh, yes, I get meal breaks out of our secure little area, but I don’t spend much time outside when it is light out. Which leads me right back to the stones.

You have heard about the moon dust puffing around my feet on some of the camps. Then there is the gravel, pea size which is placed on many of the roads for filler and in an attempt to keep down the dust and dirt. The side effect is that potholes can be kept under control. The larger, 3cm size rocks are dumped in mass in those areas where there is a lot of foot traffic. Which leaves the rest of the camp.

Large rocks, stones, whatever the size of a clenched fist or greater just waiting for the unwary to stumble through when tired. Providing thumping and cursing noises so that it would be almost impossible for anyone to sneak around in the dark (our version of James Fenimore Cooper’s “broken twig”). 

Stones in the road, the foot paths and between all the B-huts: they are not a metaphor of lifes challenges. They are simply rocks, better handled in combat boots than running shoes making our lives miserable !

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2 Responses to Stones in the Road

  1. Ron says:

    or flip flops…
    Could do a study on ankle injuries to point out the folly of the big river rocks

  2. Diane says:

    Why now am I humming the theme tune to ‘The Flintstones’ 🙂 Should I have changed the subject to ‘Yabba Dabba Doooo’?

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