Not long after we moved to Houston, we went to a comedy show where one of the comedians said that this was the state symbol of Texas.
OMG, it remains true. There is nowhere, no day, I can drive in Houston that I don’t encounter that symbol and his buddies.
There’s an intersection near where we live that is part of the shortest route between Houndstooth Hall and the rescue clinic, but it’s so jacked up with road work right now that I try never to go that way. Sometimes I forget, and then I’m stuck, sitting, sitting, sitting…
Which gives me time to notice that there is usually a surveying crew out there, too. When I was a young thing, I dated (at different times) two different guys who later worked at least for a time as surveyors, I THINK, and I also THINK they may have ended up on the same crew at some point. I always wondered if they knew they both had a history with me. Probably yes, because our world was small and there were other people they knew in common. Then I wonder if they did know, if they ever spoke of me. So many stories I could tell about the two of them, but I wonder if they shared stories about me, and I hope they were kind. (My stories about them are invariably kind because I have lots of good and funny memories.)
All of that led me to look online at vintage photos of surveying crews for both roadways and railways in America. There are SO MANY photos. Crews probably don’t pose for group photos now, but back then, they were making history as they helped explore and map a huge new continent. Here are a few favorites.
Two things I know. None of these guys ever saw that state symbol of Texas. And I’m not old enough to have dated any of them.