I remember it well. There was a field and a slight rise there that I always noticed whenever we used to drive by it when I was a child. I would be bored in the car and used to imagine someone on a dirt bike pacing us as we drove. That was one of my favorite places to watch my dirt bike rider jump. It was like that video game that I would play. He would go soaring through the air and land smoothly, so long as you didn’t let his engine overheat. I’m not sure if my parents ever understood why I would stare out the window so much when we drove. I’m not sure that it mattered to them. At least I wasn’t reading all of the road signs out loud. That was the other thing that I would do to pass the time.
I finally realized today what they are doing there. A road is being cut through that field. They have already blasted through that rise so that the road can remain level.For a brief moment I pictured the dirt bike jumping over the gap from one side of the unfinished road to the other. I wasn’t able to complete the jump. I’m the one driving the car now, so staring out the window isn’t a very safe idea. I check the rearview mirror and see my own son in the back seat. He isn’t looking out of the window. His nose is buried in a book. I love that he enjoys reading so much, but part of me was hoping to see him staring with his eyes going up and down as he imagines every jump. I know that in a few months, he will see a new road there with some buildings being put up along it. He won’t even remember what it looked like before the road started to be built. He’s young. The world is always changing for him. I guess what bothers me is that in a few months, I will see the new road and buildings being put up along it, and I may not remember what it looked like before that either.
Slaters Words 