So, I’m at the border of Massachusetts and New York, and man, it wasn’t easy. Little did I know that US 20 was known as “Jacob’ Ladder,” a treacherous, winding highway that only seems to go uphill.
Now, if you remember Jacob’s Ladder from the Bible, it appears in Genesis 28:11-19, when Jacob dreams of a gateway to Heaven and God foretells the future of his descendants.
This is not like that Jacob’s Ladder.
It’s more like the ones you see at carnivals: Rope ladders tied at one point on either end, lying on an angle. As you tried to climb it, you’d swing around, find your self upside-down, and fall off. Most of the time, you’d bang your head and an elbow, and curse yourself for spending $2 just to win a stupid stuffed Scooby Doo.
This was like that. It’s called “Jacob’s Ladder” because it was an old American Indian trail that was turned into one of the first highways as automobile tourism picked up in the 1920s. But this hill was so steep, and the weather so crummy, that cars would get stuck in mud ruts halfway up. A man named Jacob made a living off of hauling stuck vehicles with his oxen, and is rumored to have actually manufactured the traps in the road to sucker more travelers. He became so famous that they named the road after him.
Now, I consider myself to be in pretty good shape, but I can’t do 10 miles of constant, belligerent uphill. I thought it was going to be the end of me. When I came to the top, I found a monument by thankful motorists. Apparently, everyone got so tired of Jacob’s Ladder that the government made a detour, and motorists from around the country brought stones to erect a celebratory sculpture:
I also met a wild turkey, which I named Esau. He was very docile, and I could almost pet him:
In other news, The SOMA Review posted an interesting commentary on the hullaballoo about Sen. Barack Obama’s prayer being lifted from the Western Wall in Jerusalem and being printed in the mainstream press. It made me laugh, especially because it showed how so many things in that city, even something as innocuous as a piece of paper, can become a competition of faiths.
Anyhow, I end my blogging today with the view I was greeted with at the end of Jacob’s Ladder, which almost made the endless mountain worthwhile.
It’s amazing how many turkeys there are running around Massachusetts. When I was with the Shakers, they had a flock that Sister June fed daily during the winter months. She loves all kinds of birds. I think the turkeys loved her, too.
It was a hot day today, wasn’t it?
Karen
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