The Great Outdoors: Old Dirt Roads

Unless you lived in a city all your life, you have probably driven down an old dirt road. Maybe it was a road home, a road to your grandparents’ house, or to a favorite fishing or hunting spot.

I remember fondly the many dirt roads in my life. I was born in Grandpa and Grandma’s farmhouse on an old dirt road. Not many people drove by back then. Grandpa’s brother had a farm south of us on that dirt road. To the north of us, there were a few farms. Dirt roads to the east and west led to more farms.

Grandpa had a pickup truck, but he didn’t drive it much. Maybe once a month, he would take Grandma and me to town to buy things we needed. I would ride in the bed of the truck. When he reached the end of the dirt road, a paved road led to the main street in town.

There was a grocery store, restaurant, bank, post office, gas station, church, school, and that was about it. The town had a few neighborhoods, but not many. Life was a whole lot different back then than it is now.

South on the dirt road from the farm, Grandpa would take me to the fishing or swimming hole. I would ride in the truck bed and feel the wind in my face. We went there a few times a year in the summer. As a kid, I always looked forward to that.  

He taught me how to drive that old truck using a stick shift and a clutch. First, he let me drive it around the farm to do chores. Later, he let me drive it down the old dirt roads to take or haul things to and from neighbors.

When I turned 16, Grandpa had passed on, and Grandma gave me that old pickup truck. I drove it to school instead of riding the big yellow school bus. My squirrel rifle was always in a gun rack in the back window. My truck was always unlocked, usually with the windows down and my rifle in plain sight. It was a much different world than it is today.

I got a part-time job to help pay for gas. I drove around in fields while my friends, with their loaded rifles, sat in the bed of the truck, shooting rabbits. That truck also took us on many fishing trips down dirt roads.

When I started liking girls, they would sit right next to me as I drove. Bucket seats were not invented yet. Neither were seat belts. We parked that old truck on dirt roads where we could see the moon and stars. We did a lot of smooching and hugging.

Later in my life, I drove lots of dirt roads in my pickup truck to take my kids and grandkids fishing and hunting. We also traveled a dirt road to get to a weekend cabin we once owned. We drove down a dirt road to the creek to fish and play in the water during the summer and to go hunting in the fall. We took our ATVs on rides through the forested hills on dirt roads.

If kids today had to walk a dirt road to school without a smartphone that pollutes their lives, they would be a lot better off. They would also get more exercise. Back when there were more dirt roads, if you repeated some words you heard adults say, you got your mouth washed out with soap.

There was less crime when roads were dirt. There were no drive-by shootings. Criminals did not rob homes because they knew there were barking, snarling dogs and a double-barrel shotgun waiting for them.

It seems as though our values were better when our roads were dirt. Dirt roads taught patience. You did not drive too fast. If the dirt road washed out back then, you didn’t worry. You enjoyed family time together. You made memories. If someone got stuck in the mud, you hooked up the team of horses and pulled them out. You wouldn’t take anything they offered for helping them. You made a new friend.

In today’s fast-paced, technological world, we all need a place away from all the congested traffic on paved or concrete roads where people are looking at their smartphones instead of watching the road; someplace to go where our smartphones can’t get a signal. A place where we can fish, camp, hunt or sit quietly and enjoy nature.

Sometimes you just need to explore, to investigate, to see where an old dirt road goes. Perhaps it is only to take a ride in the country to get away from all the bad news that depresses you on social media or the news on television.

Stop and roll down the windows. Excuse me, I mean push your window button. Listen to the birds sing. Look for wildlife. Get away from the rush of city life. Smell the fresh air. Enjoy the quietness and natural beauty. Slow down and enjoy life away from technology. Maybe dirt roads will bring back memories of camping trips, fishing trips, hunting trips, picnics or visits to Grandma and Grandpa’s farm, and walking down the dirt road holding their hands. For a moment in time, you are a child again, walking down a dirt road with your fishing pole and a can of worms.

Those of us who grew up in the country on dirt roads will always want to go home, at least in our minds, to revisit the memories of time gone by. Sometimes, nothing has changed. Most of the time, it is not quite like we remembered it. But that is okay, because it will always bring treasured memories.

A few times a year, I get in my truck with all the electronic gadgets and drive down the dirt road to where the old farm was. I stop, and in my mind’s eye, I can still see the old house I was born in. Sometimes I can still see Grandma and Grandpa sitting on the front porch. I can still see myself running around catching June bugs or fireflies.

I can still see the barn, the smokehouse, the outhouse, the chicken coop, the pig pen, the old cow I milked by hand, the farm dogs running around in the yard, ready for me to take them squirrel or rabbit hunting. I can still see the trees I climbed, the grapevines I swung on and the old spring on the side of the hill I hauled water from. I can still smell Grandma cooking on the old wood stove in the kitchen, and the smell of a skunk the dogs got into a fight with.

The next time you feel stressed or overwhelmed by the craziness in the world we live in today, or you need a break, drive down a dirt road in the country. You will get your car or truck dusty or muddy, but they will clean up. It will be worth it. Find a place to escape to and make your own memories. Sometimes the best therapy you can get is taking a long drive down an old dirt road.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

“What is wrong with our society today is that too many dirt roads have been paved. We would not have as many problems in America today if we had more dirt roads, because dirt roads build character.” - Paul Harvey

Larry Whiteley has communicated the great outdoors across American for over 40 years through newspapers, magazines, books, blogs and a nationally syndicated radio show. To read more of his award-winning stories, go to www.storiesbylarry.com. Email him at larrywhiteley2@gmail.com.