Signs along the way

I certainly don’t remember the first roadside advertisement I ever saw, but I suspect it was a barn rooftop proclaiming “See Rock City” or one of the Burma Shave sets that were along roadside across America in my youth. I specifically remember seeing:

Ma Loved Pa

Pa loved Women

Ma Caught Pa

In with 2 a swimmin’

Here lies Pa!

Burma Shave!

I’d always thought that roadside advertisements were born when the automobile came along, but they say that it goes back to Egyptian times. You probably could have convinced me that advertising flyers date back to Gutenberg’s original printing press, but there were no cars, or windshield wipers to put them under back then.


With the invention of portable signs and other, more permanent signage with changeable letters, we have moved into ever changing advertising and clever messages, especially at churches:

“Get off facebook and take out faith book”

“Go to church; don't wait for the hearse to take you”

“A bad day at work is better than a good day in hell”

“Down in the mouth? It’s time for a faith lift”

Over the years, I guess my favorite roadside advertisement has been hand printed signs and more recently, local signs on mobile lighted signs and professionally printed (but not well thought out) signs. Years ago on a road trip, my wife and I caught a couple signs of note on US 441 between Milledgeville and Eatonton GA.

Deborah took this picture, which is the one that really renewed my interest in the world of roadside signage. We didn’t buy any produce, but I would have paid a good price for the sign, if I thought I could have bought it without insulting the owner.

Deborah also took this priceless gem:







I especially like signs that need translation skills to interpret. It says, “Sweeting Quick Stop and Cafe and Short Order” At least that is what I think it says.


And then there are those that send a message that is probably not exactly what they intended. This one was in front of a business that was closed and for sale. They changed the sign a couple of weeks before the Mayoral election in Cochran, GA to indicate the owner's preference.






And then there is this one. They must have put up 100 within 25 miles of my hometown.






I am not quite sure why one would actually pay for leaks, but if you need a deal on some, I KNOW who to call.

There are countless others. I just felt the need to share these few.

Good Intentions........revisited

(August 2007)
Good intentions are pretty much worthless. Maybe I should clarify that. Good intentions without action are pretty much worthless. I have believed that for a long time, but I continue to prove it to myself.

Just a few miles north of Cochran, right on my way to work, someone planted several acres of sunflowers last year. That is not that uncommon in these parts, but they were just beautiful. They were planted in two plots on a southeastern facing slope and it was very picturesque. The blooms faced me each morning as I drove to work and seemed to look the other way when I returned home hot and tired (me, not them.)

They hit their prime about the week of July 4th. I fully intended to stop and take pictures one morning on the way to work, but I kept forgetting my camera. The morning that I finally remembered to bring it, I stopped and got out only to discover that the batteries were dead. When I finally got back with fresh batteries the following Saturday, it was too late. It was just another South Georgia field, drying up in another sweltering summer.

I had good intentions, but the results were no different than if had had no intentions at all.

I have reached the age that requires one to go to a lot of retirements and funerals. I thought of this story recently at an old friend’s retirement luncheon. He and I processed on base together as new federal employees on a nice Tuesday in 1973. On that day, he had been a father for two days and I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do with my life. 34+ years later, I still wonder what I need to do next. I have several years’ worth of things that I want to do “someday” but struggle with what I need to do today and tomorrow.

I have always admired men from America’s early history who seemed to be able to accomplish so much without the modern conveniences we have today. A couple of weeks ago, a friend asked me if I’d been having trouble with my computer. What she meant was that I hadn’t been using it, at least how she thought I should.

When our children were small and we got our first VCR, they couldn’t understand why they couldn’t watch their favorite program any time they wanted. It is probably a harder lesson to learn for children today. They watch movies in the back seat while they are on their way to church. I guess I never really got the fact that some things need to be done now and other things can be done at any time.

Somehow, I end up doing stuff that is convenient and not doing the important stuff. My actions don’t match my intentions. Sometimes I don’t save time to do those things that I need to do for myself, my friends or my family. My backlog of neglect is pretty extensive. I am even several years behind on my New Years resolutions.

Our intentions are important, but good intentions are not enough. Doing the right thing, but not doing it at the right time is not really doing the right thing. Just like that field of flowers that I failed to “picture”, other opportunities to fulfill our intentions will pass their prime and eventually go away. I’m reminded of this every day when I pass that field on my way to work. The picture that I failed to take probably looks better in my memory that it ever would have printed and framed. That’s OK. Maybe I won’t miss the next one. Maybe you won’t either.

Epilogue
I wrote that three years ago, almost to the day. The owner of that field finally planted sunflowers again this year. I almost waited too late again. The week of July 4th, I finally stopped and took a couple of pictures. The field was not as full as it was the year I missed. I don't think that they were as pretty as before either. But you don't get that many second chances.

Just a few days later, a small ad was in the local shoppers guide inviting people to come see sunflowers just north of town. I thought, "a third chance? I can't miss this." So I got my camera and went to see.
Of course, it was the wrong time of day, the lighting was not right, and I should have gone a week earlier. I am so glad that I got a second, AND third chance.

I hope that this experience prods me to do a much better job of doing the right things at the right time. I know that I can't always expect multiple chances to get things right.

What do you think?