Eulogy To A Road

Across the Fence #338

As I stood in the middle of what was left of Sherpe Road, in the early morning hours of Arbor Day, my heart was heavy. Smoke filled the air from burning brush piles. It’s been that way for several days along Highway 14 between Westby and Viroqua.

As I stood on what used to be a beautiful, peaceful, tree-lined road, the scene that surrounded me looked like a bombed out, smoldering landscape in the midst of war. Everything had been destroyed. There was hardly a blade of grass left standing. Fifty-year-old trees had been ripped from the ground, bulldozed into huge piles, and set on fire. Nothing was spared. Everything was gone, and I felt naked and exposed as I stood there among the ruins. I also felt sadness and a lot of anger.

There is no good reason for all this destruction. It was even more ironic that it was Arbor Day as I stood there, a day when we should be planting trees, not destroying them. I thought of the many lives along the path of destruction that have been disrupted and changed; homes destroyed, farms destroyed, farmland destroyed, trees and wildlife habitat destroyed, and all for what one person described to me as a “road to nowhere.”

I’ve talked with a lot of people and they all say they don’t understand why this four-lane is being built. We had a flat, good highway, with only one gradual curve. We’re talking about a new stretch of highway that’s only 4.5 miles long. If you speed on the new highway, you might gain one or two extra minutes at the most as you travel between the two cities. Then it funnels back down to two lanes through town. Is that extra minute or two worth all the destruction? Is it worth spending millions of dollars on, when the state of Wisconsin is supposed to be broke? I guess it’s worth it to the politicians in Madison, and the powers to be in the Wisconsin DOT, who seem to have no concept of what life is like outside the Republic of Madison.

Several people have told me that they voiced their opinions and opposition to the project at DOT listening sessions, but nobody was listening—it was like talking to a brick wall. Everything had already been decided.

According to our governor, the state is broke, but you’d never know it by the millions of dollars they’re spending to destroy the countryside between Westby and Viroqua. The political leaders want to make drastic spending cuts in education and senior-related programs, but the state can still pay contractors millions of dollars to build roads to nowhere. Maybe if we had spent more money on education in the past, our leaders would be better equipped to make these decisions.

Perhaps it’s just the smoke from all the burning trees and brush piles that’s clouding my mind, so I can’t see the big picture. The only picture I see, is total destruction, devastation, and property destroyed. Sherpe Road that used to be home to wildlife and birds in all the trees and bushes, that had wild plum trees and wild blackberries, that was beautiful to drive or walk through in all seasons, is now a barren wasteland – everything destroyed.

The Olson property on the corner of Tri-State Road and Highway 14, where Faye McClurg lived – destroyed. The house, barn, and beautiful trees where the Clara Olson family lived – destroyed. The farm where Pete Erickson lived when I was young – destroyed. It was Pete and my father who used to talk across the fence and where the name for this column came from. Smith School, that had been converted into a home is now gone. So are all the large, old trees that stood around the school – destroyed. The field where my grandparents, Oscar and Julia Hanson, raised tobacco and strawberries – destroyed. The field where my uncle and aunt, Maynard and Jeannette Hanson, raised tobacco – destroyed. Part of Thompson’s field along the highway – destroyed. Rogers house and fields along the highway – destroyed. The homes next to the Wayside Park, where the root beer stand was – destroyed. Those are just the places near where we live that are affected. That’s also a lot of history destroyed.

Is it any wonder that I felt sadness and anger as I stood among the destruction on Arbor Day? They say you can’t beat a dead horse, and this horse is dead. It’s been destroyed, not because it was hurt or ailing, but killed for no good reason. I just wanted to let people know what a fine horse it was before it was destroyed.

This is my eulogy to that fine horse, to the lives disrupted and land destroyed along that highway. It will take another 50 years before that landscape begins to resemble what’s been destroyed. Most of us will be gone by then. My hope is that the generations coming behind us are better stewards of the land, and not so quick to destroy everything in order to gain an extra minute of time. I hope they’ll have a better appreciation for nature and not want to bulldoze everything down and cement it over.

Only time will tell. Meanwhile, Rest In Peace!