The Final Three*
Either way you go, from home to town or back, it’s a twisty uphill haul for half, and a twisty way back down. Eventually, near my road, the terrain levels off, but, wow, it is a fun ride.
Coming from town, it all begins with a “Michigan left turn.” This is accomplished by driving past an intersection to a U-turn that takes you back the way you came until you return to said intersection and then make the turn, which is now to the right. Although it likely stems from an effort to promote safety, it is a perpetually annoying waste of time and fuel.
But after that, the route home has become something else, as familiar as an old friend. From the busy four lanes of Fulton, the Michigan left turn takes me to Pettis and, soon, onto Vergennes and briefly uphill to Bailey Road. The climb is unrelenting, continuing uphill for more than a mile. (I rode home on a bike exactly once, years ago, and once was enough.) Finally, the sign for the turn to home on Fero Avenue. The three miles from Pettis to my gravel road unwind me both emotionally and spiritually.
(Avenue! What a pompous designation. I’m told north-south streets here are called “avenues” regardless of their grandness or lack thereof, and east-west streets are called “roads.” It seems a grandiose title, though, for the humble and relatively sedate Fero.)
In two places, Bailey Road offers a ninety degree bend, once on an uphill and once on a downhill. A designated “Natural Beauty” road, Bailey demands and always warrants attention. It is a lovely, twisting, canopied feast of rural character, bursting into leafy color in spring, lushly green in summer and brilliant with the colors of autumn. Even in winter, the turn from Vergennes onto Bailey is a relief, because it means I’m headed home. Inevitably, the temperature moderates measurably between town and home.
Recently while on the way home, I was musing that my introduction to Bailey came in the early 1980s, long before we moved from Colorado, when we visited friends who had purchased their forever home here. close by. Astonishingly, it has “suddenly” been more than forty years since I first came to know the roller-coaster of the ribbon known as Bailey Road. When, in 1996, my family moved onto Fero, it became a routine that has now lasted upwards of thirty years.
Owning a claim to longevity is new to me. Not many things in this life of mine have lasted the way this drive has. Not surprisingly, there were some busy years during which I actually resented the necessity of that drive into town (probably because I am perpetually running late). The road is anything but straightforward. There were times when, as a volunteer firefighter, I’d encounter someone easing their way along at the sluggish pace of 35 mph. I’d fume, but there’s nowhere to pass. In truth, given an open road, I can take that bobsled-like ride down to Ada at rates (much) faster than posted speed. Admittedly, it’s naughty...but fun!
At some point, something shifted. Certainly, the covid years were influential, but I learned to slow down, especially when exiting the bustle of town to head home. The journey to Fero, if you let it, becomes a little bit, what’s the word? Enchanted. Yes. It reminds me of the lost village of Brigadoon, forgotten and a little difficult to get to. Those hills and curves stop some people from wanting to live in my area, and that’s just fine with me.
Lately, I have driven both directions, but especially the trip up the hill, with an invigorating mindfulness. I appreciate being here, in this place, no matter how it shows up. The trees, the bumps and wobbles of the pavement, the occasional ice patches or other momentary hazards. And always, the possibility that deer will appear without warning.
No longer do I allow myself to regard this unavoidable element in daily life as tiresome. These miles are my Final Three, the path to home and hearth. After so many years, so many miles, they have become like friends, always there, always slightly challenging, always holding me with the reassurance of routine. What a gift.
* in honor of the NCAA Final Four teams competing in all college sports!
