In high school, I really enjoyed listening to Steve Miller Band.  The music is a little funky but I still really enjoy it.  They had one song called, “Fly Like an Eagle”.   One of the lines is, “Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’…into the future…”  It’s catchy and seems to sort of fit with a fun little thing that is happening in my neighborhood right now.

When we bought this place 8 or so years ago, the road was in less than stellar shape.  It was obvious a slip of some sort had occurred at some point.  As time passed, we noticed that the road gapped a little now and then…it was still an active slip!  Every year the city…or maybe the road elves…someone would bring a load of asphalt to patch the gaps that developed and we went on our merry way.  This year, however, the issue became serious.  Over the course of a week or so, half of our road dropped a foot.  The city brought rock to fill the slip to allow everyone to pass.  Of course, that was a hopeless battle because the rock added weight to the mix which worsened the slip.

Our road is one lane and a dead end.  The way our driveway is shaped, we typically back up or down it to the road, drive to a turn-around where we change direction and then drive out to the main road.  We need to cross the slip to turn around but we can survive without being able to do that.  Fortunately, for us, this is a mild inconvenience compared to what some of my neighbors are suffering.   More than half of the residents of my street live beyond the slip and were at risk of not being able to access their homes, being left without refuse service or emergency services.

I’ll give credit to the city, the water company and the sanitation folks.  Oh yeah…in varying forms, there have been water and sewer disruptions in addition to the road mess.  All three agencies seem to have come together nicely to drive piles, dig holes, cut trees and in general, fix the road.

Just last night, however, the urgency has grown.  The pilings are mostly in place so our road appears to be safe, but the earth below the road and wall-in-progress failed.  A 40ish foot swath of earth slipped significantly down the hill towards another neighborhood below over night.  I’d be terrified to stay in those houses, especially with the forecast of rain and possible snow tomorrow.

I’m typically one to find the good in situations though, and I have definitely seen good come of this mess.  In addition to improving our home values with a good road, I have been given the opportunity to stand upon the road once the work crew leaves, with my neighbors.  We all knew each other but we rarely just stood around and talked.  We have done more of that lately and it has been a good and fun thing!