Legend Has It: Fifteen Years of Sand

About the time when school started up, my morning jogs were interrupted regularly by very consistent comings and goings of dump trucks. I soon discovered their destination (and contents) and was pleasantly surprised to find that the town had made a cost effective purchase of sand to manage the varying conditions of a solid active stretch of New England winter, cheaply. I was happy with the fact that someone in our town is negotiating with our tax dollars instead of hemorrhaging out the cash to save time or salvage old contracts with old buddies or new bids from new buddies or however the story goes.
So the town secretary gave me the skinny on the purchase. As it turns out, the town of Lee, New Hampshire (Est. 1766), had a VERY special opportunity to purchase, get this, Fifteen years of sand (I even capitalized it). I know! Fifteen years of sand! Her delight was so infectious, I had to keep myself from moving her desk aside to gather her up in a firm embrace, wrapping both arms about her with a squeeze that let her know I, too found a reason to celebrate!
Driving out of there, I got to thinking out this "fifteen years" of sand. I thought it was funny that all of a sudden, on a random day in September, a new unit of measurement was taught to me. Though I felt a bit unclear as to exactly what 15 years of sand is, so I thought taking a look at it might be helpful.
Upon arrival I saw 4 great big massive piles of sand each about 3 stories high. And I thought about each pile maybe being 3 years of sand roughly, which brought it up to 12 years of sand presently in front of me. I then tried to visually divide each pile and wanted to imagine how many truck loads it took to carry one year of sand. Then I wanted to talk to someone. I wanted to demand to see a one year increment of sand! I think it should be dumped near the center of town so the townspeople can all come out and gaze upon this collective purchase we've made. Surely if you've purchased 15 years of sand, there must be 1. And since the company from whom we've purchased the sand devised this unit of measurement, then it must be a definitive unit of measurement, one that has been examined by the persons who chose to make this purchase on behalf of the town.
And let's say there is someone in the town monitoring the purchase of the 15 years. What does she have to do in terms of keeping track of how many years have been dropped off? Was she there when the first month arrived? Did she know when we had 6 months stashed near the back of this now storage lot of sand? Yes! The first six months of the sand has arrived, you now are awaiting delivery on the remaining 14 and a half years of sand.
Units of measurements. As I get older, I realize there are more and more units of measurements relating to lots
of things I know nothing about. Let's start with electricity. Watts measure total electrical power based on the variables of volt, amperes (amps), and ohms. I stole this from my husband who is an electrician on nuclear submarines. I have no friggin clue what these are. I Just know when I turn stuff on in the house, I want it on.
Then there are units of dry measurement, again things I don't understand. Things like a bushel or a peck. And it makes sense not to order, say the equivalent of 15 years of sand in a bushel, because a bushel is a bit over a cubic foot and this would be a rather daunting task to measure.
Of course there are other units of volume to consider. But there are also units of mass, length and area. Perhaps an appropriate unit of measurement for the sand could be MILE. LEt's break it down. One year or let us say 6 months of sand
is this much, now how many times can you run that truck up and down the George Bennett Road, out on to Mast Way taking a left there at Orion's Tree Service, then a left onto Steppingstone and back out heading south onto route 125 (which is 5.5 miles)?
Perhaps as the project manager, I would have inquired as to what if one winter was especially difficult and one especially calm. What about those winters where we just get hammered and get like 115 inches of snow? (I hope that's this year or that we get even more than 10 feet of snow)
Then I thought, what if 15 years of sand meant that the town has unlimited access to the sand they need for 15 years!? Nah, that doesn't seem right. So would that mean we can, ahem, sand a bit heavier than usual? Or maybe we could, ahem, sand more frequently than we would normally? and when those piles were gone, the sand company would come and replenish our stash with more sand?
And this cycle would continue for 15 years!!?
The trucks have stopped coming up and down the road now; and for some time my jogs have been quiet and the road less stuffy.
Today I pictured the final delivery of sand. I thought of the driver of that truck and how good he must have felt being the last drop, completing the order, needing a signature, shaking the hand and participating in a friendly exchange in a vocal tone a bit higher than his normal tone (expressing kindness and relief, though undetected by the listener).
I wonder, when the last year of sand arrived, did the management of the sand company and the town officials do a walk through, take a look-see, and double check making sure a couple of months didn't blow out while en route.
"OK, Well, there you have it. We've got 8 years in the back, these piles here bring it to 12 and just over there by the entrance, those there are the first years you'll use, um 13, 14 and 15..." BUt technically they're years of sand 1, 2 and 3, in the order used, but in the tallied years, they're last. Gosh, It doesn't matter.
I know I'll never forget the year my town bought 15 years of sand. So in the year 2024, or rather the winter of 24-25, we will need sand. I'll be 53 years old. Elijah will be 23 years old (and hopefully out of the house). Levi will be 18 years old (and hopefully out of the house).
But one thing is for sure, I am going to watch these sand piles and then maybe I'll devise my own unit of measurement as related very dark (85%) organic chocolate. Does anyone know what a lifetime supply looks like?