Zen and the art of highway upkeep

Over the summer, my good buddy and I realized that we were both exhibiting symptoms of acute wanderlust. It was no wonder. She hadn't seen an ocean since toddlerhood, and I had never ventured more westerly than St. Louis. It seemed the only treatment for our condition was to hop in her Daewoo and head for the American West. So, off we went, bright-eyed and brave, determined to start curing our Indiana girl naivety. As individuals, Jean-Paul Sartre might say, we were off to "project ourselves upon the world." \nIn the course of our journey, we learned a lot about highways. In Kansas, they're sweetly adorned with Black-Eyed Susans. In Nevada, they're so lonely they have signs that boast it. In Arizona, they're so popular there's no man, woman or Kiwanis Club who doesn't adopt one. \nThe crash course in interstate-ology proved to shatter what was perhaps our biggest Midwestern misconception of all: of all of our notable delays -- a wrong turn at Lake Tahoe, an unexpected stop at Stewart's Petrified Forest/Ostrich Farm, a forgotten cell phone in Flagstaff -- not one of them was due to road maintenance. Except, of course, the holdup that occurred in the very last hour of the trip. \n5,367 miles of thoroughfare we drove, and Indiana state Route 46 was the only one under construction.\nThis connection was monumental. All my life I'd assumed that highway construction was just a routine bother. I thought interstate delays were simply to be expected, that yearlong enhancement projects were common scenery in all places. I figured residents in every state had to learn words equivalent to "Hyperfix" and "Revive 65." It never occurred to me that these experiences were unique to my own home. \nBut now, as Soren Kierkegaard might say, I am "free of illusion." I am aware that there's another world out there, a world left uncluttered by hard hats and orange cones. A world where people get places on time. \nI now wonder if Indiana's obsession with roadwork is the manifestation of an overly ambitious state motto. Perhaps "Crossroads of America" is holding us to a standard that is just too difficult to maintain. Missouri only has to care for a 630-foot arch to uphold its position as "Gateway to the West." Indiana has to preserve 28,500 lane miles of highway.\nI know we're all proud of living in the nation's intersection. But maybe our slogan should be a little more abstract. I doubt many of New Mexico's tax dollars go to supporting the claim that it's the "Land of Enchantment." But maintenance alone will cost the Indiana Department of Transportation over $7 million this year. If we changed the motto, maybe we could relax a little. If we felt like no one was looking, we could overlook a pothole or two. \nOther states boast landmarks and entertainment. Indiana says, "We can get you to those states." Indiana should stop exploiting itself as America's truck stop. It shouldn't, as Immanuel Kant might say, "be used as a means to an end."\nJust as two Midwestern girls sought personal insight through travel, Indiana, too, can look internally for a meaningful identity. Instead of focusing on the external benefits of the state, it should reflect on the good things that are actually in it. Take a deep breath, Indiana. You're more than a complex network of pavement. Trade that sledgehammer for just a little bit of soul.