Looking for Peace and Quiet

Dear Tradewinds,

Clearly I still recall sitting in slowly moving traffic on I-95 in Rhode Island. I snickered at  the big, loud, smelly eyesore in the lane next to me. So happy in knowing that huge dumptrucks and tractor trailers would soon only be a memory. In just a few weeks I would make my move to the tiny island of St. John where trucks like this surely did not exist and if they did. How many could there be?

Five years later I was sick enough to stay home from work. A day on the couch watching movies was in order plus some additional sleep. Can anyone relate? Not to be. On “peaceful” little St John. Anyone who lives near “Jacob’s Ladder” (there are many of us) is subjected every 10 or 15 minutes to the sounds of straining truck engines and airbrakes as these behemoths navigate the hill. So loud is the sound that watching TV at any volume is impossible. Some of the more safety conscious truck drivers even insist on blaring their air horns all the way up and down the hill. Not beeping at the top, leaning on the horn all the way! What, we can’t already hear you? Or do they just aim to ensure that we all understand to get the *&%#  out of their way.

Believe it or not there are solutions, but not as long as St. John is governed by the two other big islands who do not have much in common with us due mainly to our small size and infrastructure. Is there anyone living on St. John who would not be in favor of our own rules and laws that actually fit our island and its population, including the trucking companies?

I know. Dream on. For now I’ll just have to dream up a new place to continue my search for peace and quiet. Rhode Island looks better every day.

Very sadly, Mark Foster