Rush Hour

I got caught in stop-and-go rush-hour traffic yesterday.  It was awful.  The trash barrel was full after Christmas - The Sequel, and I had to get down to the big road before Trash Guy came.  First off, I had no more than pulled out of my driveway (after carefully looking both ways) when there were oncoming headlights.  Our little dirt road is too narrow for cars to pass and there are few places wide enough, but I pulled over and waited for Chinn to go by.  (After sixteen years here, I don't know if the man has another name; all I know is that he lives farther up the hill and drives a little red truck.  We keep ourselves to ourselves.)  After dropping off the barrel and picking up the mail, I had to wait for another car turning off the big road before I could turn around.  Two in one morning!  And then I hit gridlock.  Going back up the hill and just before I reached my drive, still another car was coming down.  With big ditches on either side of the road, that car was going to have to give ground so I flashed my beams and kept coming; vehicles going uphill have the right of way.  Car waited until the very last minute to back up.  It backed up so as to block my drive, even though I had my turn blinker on.  At that moment, another vehicle came barreling down to the "intersection" and, obviously unused to a situation like this, wasn't going to stop.  Brakes squealed, dust flew, and the three of us sat there, engines running, while car Number One decided it would have to move back a little more to clear the way before road rage took over.  A potentially bad situation was averted and we all went on our way.  I'm sure glad trash day is just once a week.  I'll leave earlier next Tuesday to avoid the rush-hour traffic.