This week John had yet another encounter with a road crew working outside Struan Farm on the main road. He'd seen that they were sealing a section of the road, but dumping defective seal in a pile for disposal. Can anyone guess where this is heading? John asked if they would dump the reject seal so that we might use it at the end of the "Old Road" here at the farm. We're building up the track to remove pine trees in another year or so. Any sort of rubble is useful for this, let alone seal.
The plot thickens. The truck driver said he'd be happy to dump the pile at the end of the Old Road, so the gate was opened and he backed down to do exactly that. The only problem was that once the truck was empty he couldn't get back up the track onto the road, oh dear! And the other trucks that might have helped him had already gone home for the day. John sprang into action, zipping over to the neighbour to ask if he wouldn't mind deploying his big tractor for a rescue operation. He didn't, and basically saved the day. And after seeing the pile of warm seal, he also used his tractor to spread it out on the track so John wasn't left with a hardened pile of asphalt with which to contend.
John will be starting to get a bit of a reputation if he keeps this sort of behaviour up. Word will get around. I'm smiling because his father Maurie was very much the same, John is just walking in his father's well tread footsteps. Family legend has it that "back in the day" Maurie borrowed the road crew's sealing machinery, with their permission, and had the family out sealing the tennis court over a weekend. Clearly that sort of thing wouldn't be allowed today, but the crews do seem happy to dispose of stuff considered rubbish to someone who can put it to use, or at least thinks he can.
It's not exactly a super highway. And as you can see, pet ewes Pip and Ruby aren't too sure either!
Good on you John.
Posted by: Katherine Scott | 05/28/2019 at 08:44 AM