One truth in Wisconsin is that when the pleasant weather and stiff lake breezes of late Spring roll into town, so too do numerous contingents of construction companies, urban planners, and lawn care companies to inconvenience an entire city for a grueling four months.

The downtown area is in shambles, and is seemingly covered in dust and sand. Take a drive from the Capitol building down Gorham and onto University and you'll see road construction limiting four lanes to two, apartment complexes rising beside state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, and utility work down Randall and Charter, all in the span of less than five miles. An observatory and the drive on which it sits are both under heavy construction until August, and I wouldn't be surprised if, one day, I were to happen upon some maniac with a jackhammer defiling the streets and sidewalks on a whim.

Although, when I was twelve(ish), construction on a main county highway adjacent to our street made for great entertainment over the summer. The intersection of the highway and our street closed, and since our street is the first connecting street between this highway and another main county highway—and despite several signs indicating road closure ahead—it caused all sorts of problems for drivers attempting to cross over. One day my sister and I witnessed a school bus driving up one side of the street, and after a minute or so, saw the bus driver casually pilot the vehicle in reverse back down the hill to find another route. I could tell the same story for countless other drivers, as well. I wonder if they missed the signs…

And as the summer wore on, travelers became accustomed to finding other roads to get between these two highways, and this made it possible, for the only time in our lives, to play in streets with virtually no consequences. This made for some incredible wiffle ball games, as well as street-long matches of Capture the Flag, Hide And Go Seek, and all sorts of invented games that took advantage of the utter lack of cars on the road.

So, to some, at a certain age, construction is a blessing. To me, faced with a harrowing commute to work tomorrow, it is—well, I do not enjoy it at all.