By Terry C. Misfeldt

Interstate highways facilitate quick travel from one location to another. Speed limits let you drive at more than a minute per mile. Scenery flashes by…just like the vehicles in a bigger hurry than you…or the slower ones in the right lane. The question: Do you get to enjoy the trip and the life you pass by?

For a pleasant change, take the back roads. The ones where the speed limit is fifty-five miles an hour. Now, if you’re going to do this, don’t be in a hurry. Take your time. Observe what’s going on around you. The farmer baling hay in his field. The vendor selling her sweet corn on the side of the road. A bald eagle soaring overhead…just remember to keep your eyes on the road, too.

Stop at the Amish general store. Visit the cemetery on a hill, even if none of your relatives reside there. Check out the country church and talk with the local residents. Enjoy a meal at the diner on main street. Watch for wildlife scattering from the swamp along the two-lane road. Slow down for cyclists or a Mennonite horse-drawn buggy. Spend some time in the small town and ingest the local culture.

Pull off that back road and watch the water flow down the river. Take a walk on a woodland trail and relish the peaceful solitude. Remember to leave it better than you found it. No one wants to pick up your trash. Listen to the birds. Spend some time observing the cows grazing in the meadow. Breathe deep the fresh country air and don’t be alarmed. Cows need to poop, too. I call it “Dairy-Air” for derriere.

Life is good on America’s back roads. Yes, people live there because they want to enjoy what you see on a random trip every day. Trees in full autumnal color. Snow drifts. The smell of fresh mowed alfalfa (hay). Sunsets over the lake. Chirping birds. Life. And, yes, it’s okay to slow down once in a while and enjoy what we have in the United States.