Road Destruction

We've all heard the old joke that there are only two seasons in Minnesota: winter and road construction. (And after this weekend's heat, I look forward to winter.) I encountered a number of miles of road construction along I-90 on my trips to Winona last week. But there's road construction -- or destruction -- even closer to home. Much closer to home. The street in front of my house -- my block only -- is undergoing "resurfacing" this summer. About three weeks ago, a road crew came by and ripped up the top inch or two of the street's surface. Since then they've been back I think twice working on replacing some curb south of my house, closer to the main thoroughfare that is Blue Earth Avenue. Mostly it's just been a matter of having the street torn up and closed (except to local traffic -- that'd be me) for the past few weeks. This weeeknd they brought some huge Caterpillar-brand equipment down and left it sitting in the street. This morning they were out there firing up these machines at 6:30 a.m. (Which is kind of a pain considering I didn't get to sleep until about 5:30.) One of the road crew guys came pounding on my door about ten minutes to seven to inform me that they'd be "digging up the street" in about an hour. At least it gave me time to get my car (or rather the loaner; my car's still in "the shop") out of the driveway and into the parking lot across the street. Ah, well, I had a meeting I had to be at by 8:30 anyway. They spent the rest of the day today digging up the street to a depth of about a foot. My informant this morning told me they'd try to be done in "a few days." I can't wait to see (hear) what time they get started tomorrow.