big Tonka trucks ------ Tuesday 11 January

The massive project to widen I-10 (my parents' house is about a mile south of this coast-to-coast interstate) continues, and yesterday morning construction crews began wiping out a nearby overpass. Last night my dad and I spent about three hours watching heavy machinery break concrete, move piles of twisted re-bar and pavement, and knock down heavy support beams. Very impressive. What was done in 12 hours yesterday would have taken weeks at a similar Oklahoma road construction site. We weren't the only spectators-- when we rolled into a suitably situated shopping center parking lot at about 9:30 pm, there were already more than a dozen folks sitting around taking in the sights. Some came equipped with lawn chairs (which they set up in their pick-up beds to get the birds' eye view) and beverages. Later, after we'd moved to the other side of the overpass and then decided to run home to get jackets to hold off the stiffening night breeze, we came back with some water (mine), diet Mountain Dew (my dad's), and spicy chicarones and dry roasted almonds. We sat on the tail-gate and companionably munched and watched till well after midnight.