WHEN I WAS A KID

When I was a kid, the small town I lived in would redo the road in front of our house about every four years - "right before the mayoral election!" my mom always said wryly.  It was a challenge for the local mothers to keep their kids out of the mess.

The road was what we would call asphalt.  However, the resurfacing of the road was not done in asphalt.  They came through and spread hot tar on the roadway and followed that with a topping of crushed stone chips.  These stones would be flung over the newly laid tar by men with shovels.  It was a messy job.  The chances of getting tar on your car in the next 24 hours was about 100%.

I'm not sure it did that much to preserve the road or get the mayor re-elected.

o.o