To the editor:
Is it asphalt or ashphalt? Now that the major summer sport of road paving is underway it might be a good time to review some basic vocabulary. Mapleton Road between Presque Isle and Mapleton has finished its repaving project and the city of Presque Isle is about to start putting the finishing touches on a new Main street.
With the precision of a military invasion, supplies, tools, and personnel are assembled, organized, and dispatched on various jobs involved in this sport. Drivers are trained to go on opposite sides of the street to avoid being incorporated into the material and they are also give lessons in vocabulary and gestures that would make a minister blush on a Sunday.
The more delicately minded types are cautioned about the scents and odors resulting from the event with Marden’s and the Dollar Store stocking up on smell’um goods and scented bouquets to counter the effects of the facelift. With this in mind some caution on the use of words for repaving.
First, the main product in paving the street is called asphalt. (as-phalt) it is from the bituminous family of oil products. There is no such word as ashphalt. Check your dictionary on the finer points.
Asphalt is a very old word — from the Greek language — and like a lot of old things it smells. Those who are happy to see the improvements often have a lot to say about the scent of asphalt. Those who detest spending money on improvement projects will also voice an opinion about the essence of the improvement. They say it stinks. Aside from the complaints about the cold and ice of the winter this is a popular topic in the list of regular topics to discuss at the diner.
Hopefully this nugget of useless information will pave the way to future improvements.
Orpheus Allison
Castle Hill
