Country Roads

Saturday evening I got a text message from a coworker, “You’d better bid on Route 1. I’m bidding on Route 3!” Well, I already had, just in case.

Route 1 is the route I trained on. Route 1 is the route I live on. I would argue that Route 1 is the most rural of the rural routes in the county, and I love it. 

But I also love my little, barely-a-route in Bradyville. There’s just the three of us in the office of a morning. The atmosphere could not be more relaxed. The roads are decent, and the route is short. I’m done for the day by 1-2 pm. What’s more, Amazon delivers their own packages in Bradyville, so I don’t have to deal with that mess. However, it is a six-day-a-week route, because it is so small.

Moving to Route 1 in Woodbury would mean moving back to the larger Woodbury office, but I enjoy those folks too. It would mean a significant increase in pay, which will also affect my retirement income. But it means longer days, Amazon packages, and, the worst of it, the purchase of a van to deliver them.

Not that long ago, I was holding down a route (the one that’s finally opened up to allow these moves and the availability of route 1) and working over sixty hours a week. The money, for a substitute carrier, was insane. But I was miserable. 

We are conditioned by our total and complete immersion in capitalism to believe we should make all the money we can. At least that’s true for my generation. When I left that route and moved to Bradyville, my income was cut by about a third. But living off-grid as I do, I don’t have many expenses, so I was okay. 

If I move to Route 1, I’ll be making about what I was when my job as an editor was eliminated some six years ago. There’s enough of that capitalistic indoctrination within me to be proud of that possibility. 

Really, the thing that gives me the greatest pause is the idea of buying a van. That’s a huge investment that will take awhile to recover. I’m only planning to work for five more years. On the other hand, I’ve been uncomfortable not having a backup vehicle even on my current little route. 

As I have pondered the decision, I have asked myself, “What will make me happy?” It is with delight that I say I will be happy either way. If I move to Route 1, with its additional hours and additional pay and additional packages and additional vehicle, I will still find time to enjoy the things I love, time with the boyfriend, time in the garden, time piddling and nesting. I may need to be more intentional about it, but happiness will happen either way.

I’ll probably do it. If I do, I hope I can remember to be happy as I deliver mail and packages on the country roads that I call home.