over the river and through the woods

or, something like that…

…shit, i didn’t mean to sound xmas-themed ’cause…well…it’s really not.

i think it’s a guy thing. shortcuts, i mean.

ever since shane moved to seguin there’s been a debate over what the shortest route from point a (my place) to point b (his place) might be. there are the main routes – through luling or through san marcos, and then the numerous “shortcuts”, which often involve roads that are eight inches narrower than my driveway, bumpier than the face of any teenage burger slanger, and if you have any car trouble on ’em trying to get roadside assistance to “the middle of fucking nowhere, three trailers off the main road – in two days just follow the buzzards” would be difficult.

the things we do to shave a few miles off.

so last night, in a state of non-sobriety, i decided to get all scientifical about this…there are numerous cut overs, but the one shane swears by is at a giant power substation (not “giant” by urban standards, but for the middle of b.f.e. it’s pretty fuck-all huge) and last night i noticed it is right where a sign says “san marcos – 7″…which begs the question “seven miles to WHAT in san marcos?”

i don’t think the city limits are that far off – how far do you go into a town to hit that mark? when i leave my house soon thereafter i see a sign that says “austin – 30” but i know thirty miles later i’m not just scraping the edge – hell the corner of the airport is only twenty miles or so…seems like at thirty, if you do it right, you could coast THROUGH a corner of austin and be back out in the country without doubling back on yourself.

yes, i know, this is that annoying level of over-analyzing that i can be prone to do…but what i was getting at was i went the b.f.e. route and seven miles later was taking the last turn onto the road into martindale (small, booze-free, gambling-free (not even lotto tickets!) speed-trap town between my house and san marcos that many houston-born texas state students have given many thousands of dollars to over the years for trying to go fifty-seven miles an hour through it on their way home) and at a sign that said “martindale – 2” and two miles later i was in central (if there is such a thing) martindale (to show town size my the time i had gone three miles i was on the other side of it, having switched roads twice, to be between martindale and lockhart) so that was pretty centered up on the dot that is martindale…where do they measure the “dot” in san marcos where that seven miles would have taken me?

regardless, i know the seven mile “dot” wouldn’t have gotten me all the way THROUGH san marcos and on towards martindale – it’s at least five miles from san marcos to the turn-off to lockhart in martindale, so i think he’s right that it’s actually a shorter distance…and relatively cop-free once you leave geronimo, so that’s a plus.

(green – through san marcos (the way i usually get there as i run errands in san marcos on the way), red – through luling (the way i usually went home), and the yellow (which overlaps the green in a lot of places) is the shortcut in question)

in re-reading this, ironically, i don’t know if this bit about making a journey was worth the journey of reading it…let alone writing it.