When I was in grade school my dad took the family to various conventions in May of each year. We always drove. No one in the family flew on an airplane until the 1960’s; except for me if a certain unauthorized trip in a seaplane counts. However, that’s another story for another time. The convention travels I remember were to Long Beach, Miami, New Orleans, Dallas, Salt Lake City and Omaha. Those trips opened picturesque vistas of our entire country to my young eyes. I felt a tinge of pride after traveling the famed Highway 66. Life was simple in those days. Having traveled the “Main Street Of America” gave a kid status when reporting details of a vacation. Automobile traffic exloded after World War Two and there was even a popular song about Highway 66. Think the birth of fast food and other travel services that are attributed to such trips.

I saw first hand all the differing topographies of America. Most were the opposite of the rolling kettle moraines of my home state. Those trips happened before most of the nation’s interstate highway system was completed. We traveled along two lane roads in the countryside that at times felt like concrete ribbons winding through tunnels of billboards. Signs galore advertised anything and everything. The billboards were huge and up close and not far from the highway’s edge. But, mostly I remember Burma Shave. A clever advertiser spaced six small red signs about 100 feet apart. We might encounter 3 or 4 sets of signs during each day’s drive. It was something to look forward to if we lost interest in various games to occupy the time. Look it up sometime but I found one that gives you the flavor.

SLOW DOWN PA

SAKES ALIVE

MA MISSED SIGNS

FOUR AND FIVE

BURMA SHAVE!

Yes, parents were often called Ma and Pa. Many of the signs along America’s highways disappeared thereafter. The clutter of billboards was considered an eyesore and a disgrace to the nation. What happens when a country is shamed? Tear the signs down! What’s left? Greenery! Legislation was adopted to beautify Ameica’s roadways by removing/reducing billboards. It worked. Unobstructed scenery became the norm for any decades. Until somebody got the bright idea of plopping giant windmills in clear view from highways.

This intrusion was first noticed in Nova Scotia. One appeared and was noticable on a trek back to the Halifax airport. Then a second and so on through the ensuing years. There are still only about a dozen total on the route but they are noticable. Undoubtedly some folks must balloon with eco pride at the site. Yet, there are places with more than a scattered dozen; dozens cloud the horizon in huge wind farms. Not to be otdone, I can also look out at large swaths of solar panels dotting the greenery adjoining the highways. Ah, progress. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I prefer the vistas between the blight of billboards and he shine of progress. Dare Papa wonder if there is an element of “what goes around comes around”?