Treakle St.

Hello Dear Readers,

            On my way back from the viewing the petroglyphs in the woods, where all the teenagers hang out and do unsupervised teenager things, Tim began telling me the story of Teackle Street.  It was really more of group effort since Tim’s friend Karen and a very pale kid that went by T-Bone, frequently interrupted to add their incites.  So instead of giving you the complete, jumbled transcript, I will summarize the story into something comprehensible.

            Apparently, many years ago there was a road named Treakle Street.  It was the only road that lead to the on-ramp for the old highway US 1 that brought most of the traffic and commerce through town.  It was lined with business, shops, warehouses, and hotels.  But the new bypass was put in on the far side of town and traffic began to slow.  As the traffic on Treakle Street dwindled, so did the business around Treakle Street.  A few sleazy motels, rundown diners, and old warehouses stayed because some people preferred to do business where there weren’t so many prying eyes.  But then US 1 was completely shut down and Treakle Street finally died.  The area fell into disrepair as the weeds and animals and whatnot (This is Kevin’s Crossing after all).

            The abandoned buildings were becoming safety hazards, a few times a year some adventurous person would go missing and or get themselves hurt, exploring Treakle Street.  The town council took a vote and decided to demolish the street and all its building.  A federal grant was used to pay the demolition.  After that, the area left fallow and allowed to return to scrubland.  After that, nothing for a while.

            Then the Treakle Street sightings started.  It usually happens like this, someone would be driving on a road they’d driven hundreds of times.  So familiar they’re barely paying attention, then suddenly, they see a road off to the side that shouldn’t be there.  That was never there before.  The driver glances at up at the street side and they go past.  Sure enough, it says Treakle Street.  They’re never able to get a good look down the street, and by the time they turn around, the road is gone.

Crazy, isn’t it?  Where does it go?  What does it want?  Does anyone live there?  Has anyone ever gone done it?  I wonder if that’s where Jak-Jak lives.  I have so many questions.  But I guess I’ll have to add them to the list.  I have bigger nuts to crack.

I'll keep you updated!

Postscript

The local vandals have really upped their game this time.  They defaced the water tower in a brazen display.  The sleepy burg of Kevin's Crossing awoke one morning to find the overused phrase ‘Who watches the watchmen?’ scrawled in large clumsy letters on one of the water towers with an anarchy symbol.  No doubt the work of local teens who just discovered the concept of questioning authority.

But the real Magnus opus came the next morning.  On the adjacent water tower someone wrote in reply, ‘Jak-Jak does!’. Check and mate.  While the first graffiti was crude and rough, this new message was smooth and well executed, with, highlights, lowlights, and shading.  Clearly the work of an art school dropout!  I wonder if Jak-Jak himself did it.