They say happiness is a state of mind. Okay.
Which State?
Our great republic has fifty states; some are sparsely populated while others feel crowded. My state is booming, it’s Texas.
Good Living
Houston has a strong economy, lots of new growth and lots of new people. Business is good, housing is exploding, and we are proud to once again be hosting the Super Bowl.
Most of the attention is given to what’s happening above: the tall buildings and soaring spires of commerce. But the key element, the thing that gets overlooked, are the roads.
Constant Longing
What Houstonians want most are roads. We don’t have enough, or at least they aren’t big enough. And, for some reason, our roads end up requiring a lot repair.
The Except Clause
Here’s the except clause: All Houstonians want nice, big roads, and they want the bad roads to get repaired, they just want it done somewhere else. They want the roads they use for commuting to already be big and good to go. The motto is: “Let them build and expand somewhere else.”
Basically, all of Houston is closed for road work.
Me?
Well, we moved to the southwest suburbs. For two years a major Blvd was under construction and caused constant conflict. Then the Beltway 8 Toll Road, a mainstay of my commute, underwent a three-year overhaul. Then I-45 began its massive, larger than life, “your children will live to see it finished,” project. And I fought that mess for three or four years. Then we said enough. We moved.
And Now?
We are so happy. No more freeways, no toll roads, no traffic jams, no anything. Except for this. The church I preach for is on Bay Area Blvd. The city has decided that Bay Area BLVD needs resurfacing, a major, high volume, four lane road. Traffic will be redirected from four lanes to two, so they can work on one side, the reroute the traffic so they can work on the other side. It’s going to be a big mess.
So I asked. They said it would take about six months. That sounds suspiciously like ten or eleven months to me.
To Close
Yep, happiness is a state of mind. And the state I live in is driving me crazy.
