You just can't make this stuff up

So, I don't like to laugh at the misfortune of others- it just isn't polite. BUT every once in a while something happens in the news that is so outrageous that you just gotta guffaw. And, since no one was seriously injured or killed, I feel it deserves inclusion in my "only in the south" or "you just can't make this stuff up" categories. So, at some random trailer park in some small South Carolina town this guy gets in an argument with some 'friends'. He leaves the trailer in a huff. Across the street, he spies a track-hoe. You know, big bulldozer thing with caterpillar like tracks and a scoop. He figures out how to get his revenge on those who have wronged him mightily, and he mounts the machine like his trusty steed. Next thing you know, he's plowed through two different mobile homes before running away- only to be caught later. I think what makes this most humourous to me is that it all takes place on a road called "Ford Truck Trail." (I think its part of a larger planned community called "Manifold Acres.")

That's what really makes me smile- the road name. I've always chuckled at the way we name roads, especially in the south. There are the really obvious ones- Pineville-Matthews Road is the road that connects Pineville to Matthews. Pisgah Church Road is the road where Pisgah Church is located. Our house is off Farmview- you know the road with the big farm at the top that has an incredible view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Then you get the historical names: Old Highway 11 for example, (the road that used to be Highway 11 before Hwy 11 got rerouted) or those named for famous people: the Washingtons, Jeffersons, Jacksons and MLK Blvds. Let's not forget my favorite- those named for a little known explorer, who strayed just off the beaten path and invented pecan logs- that Frenchman of reknown: Jean-Luc Front'age. All over the country, roads just off the beaten path bear his name proudly- Frontage!

Or place names based on ownership- Johnny Smith Road and Johnson Street (they run on land owned by the Smiths and the Johnsons respectively). But my favorites are those where you have to stop and think about where they came from: Old Brick Factory Road- can't you see the D.O.T. representative walking up to some old farmer- "Excuse me, can you look at this map and tell me what this road is called?" "You mean the one that goes down past the old brick factory?" "yep- I think there's an old factory down there- is that what they made? Bricks?" "Nope. They made tractors there, but they built the building outta brick." "Oh. I see." As he writes the name down on the map for generations to come.

Don't you wonder where some names come from? Who thinks them up? What about Possum Kingdom? Or the subdivision I passed called "Heaven Trees" where the roads were Angelic Ash, Holly Harps, or Majestic Magnolia? What do you make of Fallout Shelter Road? How about Ashley Phosphate? State Park Road? Two Notch Road? White Horse Road? Old Bent Bridge Road? Amanda's Autumn Lane? And let's not forget how we got here- Ford Truck Trail. I'm thinking it ran between Chevy Camaro Court and Plymouth Place. Or maybe it was the road that ran behind the Ford dealership, or better yet, it's where an old Ford Truck was found rotting in the weeds when they went to pave the road. Whatever the case- I hope life is a little quieter over there on Ford Truck Trail now they've caught the guy on the Track-hoe. Let me know of any more roads worthy of inclusion on the list- I'm telling you, you can't make stuff like this up- its too funny!