Rainey Road

I have a distinct memory of a younger me- probably seventh or eighth grade- being fascinated as Mrs. Marxsen recounted some odd incidents on a ride home. Apparently Rainey Road, located in the suburban purgatory bordering Macon and Lizella, is home to many eccentric animals with tendencies to startle unsuspecting drivers. Peacocks and chickens in the road. Strange. Turning on this street, she slowed down to point out these unconventional pets but couldn’t quite find them and I, being a skeptical and easily distracted middle schooler, wrote it off as silly and eventually forgot the whole ordeal.

Fast forward a few years- I am sixteen and still basking in the glory of my newly acquired license when my mom walks in and I catch a very strange sequence of words: “Oh, and I almost ran over a few chickens today.” Wait, what? On Rainey Road? Really. Since then, I’ve wasted shameful amounts of gas avoiding the usual four way stop and reaching Thomaston by driving through this winding street which does, in fact, happen to house quite a few roaming chickens.

With a tendency to get frustrated in traffic and a growing sense of wanderlust, I find myself consistently drawn to such strange detours. I still get where I'm going, but in a longer and more indirect way. Honestly, I'd probably take you around Lizella and back again before giving straightforward directions to my house simply because I don’t know how. It tends to get me in trouble- I am always late, sometimes lost and I've had way too many close encounters with cute and reckless animals. But I really think this roaming does more good than harm. I have more time to think. I see some weird things and am reminded that even streets can have personality, that “cookie cutter suburbs” are really just the opposite. Each place has an opportunity to be special unto itself. In a way, I’m able to regain that childlike sense of wonder I lost as I matured and became more familiar with the world.

As a teenager with increasingly limited time and money, I’m discovering that this deviation from the main road isn’t necessarily the most practical thing. Summer is coming to a close and I’m surrounded by all the pressures and privileges associated with senior year and really, I don’t have the opportunity to look for such curious things anymore. It just isn’t priority. But why shouldn’t it be? Why shouldn’t we take a moment to step aside and notice the strange things life offers? Like a group of chickens hanging out by a stop sign. I think it’s pretty essential.