Around, around, around

Going in circles is nothing new

"They're putting a roundabout in Piggott," Uncle Ronnie announced as he pushed a spoonful of chili around his bowl.

Surely I misheard him. "Come again?"

He nodded. "You heard me right -- a roundabout!"

"Well, that'll make for entertainment," I smirked. "It's hard to achieve escape velocity as it is, but some folks truly never will get out of Piggott."

"Yesssssss," Uncle Ronnie grinned, his eyes disappearing behind the apples of his rising cheeks. "I plan on parkin' on the square and watchin' it. And you know, girl, I take it back. They're actually putting in THREE roundabouts!"

The family dinner table erupted into incredulous talk about where on earth three roundabouts would be placed in Piggott, the confounded reasons why such a thing would be considered, and the money that could be better spent elsewhere.

"Roundabouts are meant to move traffic. Have you ever seen traffic in Piggott?" my cousin Wade asked.

"I hear they got a grant or something, and the grant requires three be put in the town."

"I hear they wanted four, but got three."

"I hear they had to have three, but got 'em down to two."

"I hear it's 'cause of big truckers comin' through, and they don't want to stop."

"There's ONE stoplight in Piggott," I said.

"And they're taking that one out," Uncle Bob said.

"A one horse town is losing its horse!" I declared.

As the men discussed logistics, Aunt Kay and I discussed finances.

"Just think of what that money could do for the school in this town. Why, that amount of money would really help these kids," I said.

"The school could buy new computers, which they need with all the online studies being done now," said Aunt Kay.

"Or they could get the electricity rates down around here so factories would stay and folks would have jobs," Wade said. "My bill was $340 one month this summer, and you know where I live -- it's not big."

"My highest was only about $100 in Bentonville," I replied. "And that includes sewer and trash."

"Folks think it's cheaper to live in a small town -- and property taxes are cheaper -- but our leaders either can't or don't negotiate well for contracts on basic services. So industry doesn't stay, which means jobs don't stay, which means people don't stay -- unless they're retired or draw a check. And the rest of those who love it here and have family here stay and struggle. Now, switchin' gears, y'all remember Ethel Rexrode?" Aunt Kay asked Ronnie, Bob and Wade.

"Rexrode... I can't place her. She have a sister?"

"No, that's Edith Carter. This is Ethel Rexrode. You remember -- her sister married one of the Ellis boys."

"Edith Carter. She was the pretty one, right?"

"Well, no, I can't say she was. Ethel Rexrode was kinda pretty."

"I went to school with a Rexrode, I think."

"No, that was Rex Rhode. I'm talkin' about Ethel!"

Oh my stars. I guess going round and round isn't new for Piggott after all.

Lisa Kelley-Gibbs is a Southern storyteller, lawyer and country gal living a simple urban life in downtown Bentonville. Email her at [email protected].

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