The Flow of Traffic and the Pace of Life

Mansfield, Ohio 200 years old

I’ve just got back from a two week drive covering more than 10 states and two weeks.   My final destination was Ontario, Ohio for my 40th high school reunion.   I got to Ontario and where I was staying Friday night Aug. 7 and was up by 5 am. Ohio time which was 2 am. Tucson time.   (On a road trip with lots of iced coffee to keep the eyes functioning it is hard to sleep at the end of the day : )

Stepping back in Time

I hadn’t driven on these streets in over 30 years.   As I progressed down each block it was like stepping back in time.   Some places had fresh paint some business had changed names, other than that it was the same.

Part of that sameness was the way the street lights were tripped.   When I lived there all the signals were timed.   No cameras, no trip switches, just timed lights.   That morning it was still the same.   Five o’clock in the morning, not a car on the street, but the light turns, I wait 60 sec.   Next block, I wait 60 sec.   Next block, 90 sec.   I could tell I was on the wrong street going the wrong way.   It took me over 5 minutes to go 5 blocks.

My destination the old Westinghouse plant where my dad retired from after more than 30 years and where I left heading off with my family to a new ministry opportunity in Wisconsin.

After shooting the Westinghouse plant I headed for the town square, there was a new bandstand and some people were already in the park setting up for what appeared to be some kind of street fair, or craft in the park day.

I spent three days in Ontario and Mansfield.   One thing I observed, life flows at a different pace there.   Things aren’t as hurried,   The street lights are timed just the same way they have been for 40 years.

I’m glad we don’t have timed lights here, at least if we do we don’t have very many of them.   Most are trip switches, more and more there are video cameras at the intersections.   Traffic flows at a good pace and it is rare to wait at a light and not have someone come the other way.   Lights trip faster, traffic flows faster, and life moves on at a video age pace.

Sometimes I miss the slower pace of life.

Mansfield Westinghouse Plant