Hodgepodge

A couple of brief topics. Traffic. Autumn.
Traffic.
Traffic is not fun. I do not live in Los Angeles or the Bay Area or Denver. I do not live in a place that to most people would be extremely populated. But here in the Treasure Valley; Nampa, Meridian, Boise, Idaho we have traffic. We do not have huge crashes that cause our traffic congestion not a large business where the majority of the commuters work. We have political leaders who are short-sighted and choose not to plan for the future fearing that it would effect their careers. How can I say this? In the 1990’s there was many projects that improved the interstate in the Boise area and lanes were added from Boise to Meridian. In the 1990’s you would not have needed to be a visionary to know that the population would continue to shift west from Boise to Meridian and to Canyon County. So now we have congestion each day. We are not the only metro area to experience this, but in Idaho politicians believe they need to re-invent the wheel and have chosen not to look to other cities and how they have dealt with congestion. And so they wait. The other reason for the congestion is the people who know not how to drive on the interstate. These are the people who drive slowly out of fear or because they will not allow themselves to go over 45 miles per hour in the morning. These are also the people who must slow down to be able to look out their window as they drive (I wonder how they walk and chew gum?). These are also the people who use the turn lanes to merge into traffic, not waiting to merge but actually driving in the turn lane until they get in. These are only two of the factors that account for congestion from Nampa to Boise everyday. I would like to say that I have hope for the future, but as a resident of this valley for over 25 years I can say that the status quo is what voters around here like. So the next time elections come around and people vote with only one issue as their deciding factor they are abdicating everything else and they should not complain, because they got what they earned.

Autumn.
Yesterday my son, who is in kindergarten said, “Dad, did you know autumn is another word for fall?” I said “Yes, I did. I learned that in school.” He has learned so much already in his class. He has also become more of a help around the house. I think this comes from working in a classroom setting and getting along with others. My daughter who is in pre-school is also very quick to share her new-found knowledge with me. The other night she was working on her letters and writing her name and was very anxious to show me. How is this related to autumn? Because in autumn families get into their routines and as I have been a member of a family for all of my life it is nice to get into schedule of things again.