Life, Downstream

It is said that the birthplace of rivers is in Pocahontas County, West Virginia because eight rivers flow out of the county and none flow in. One of those is the Greenbrier River. If you find yourself along this river you will come across signs that say “we all live downstream.” For this river, that is quite literal. The Greenbrier River is a tributary of the New River, which is a tributary of the Kanawha River, which is a tributary of the Ohio River, which is a tributary of the Mississippi River, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

I have always had a passion for transportation and movement. When asked what I wanted to be when I was a little girl I would confidently tell people I wanted to be an airplane pilot. It never failed to catch people by surprise. After a family road trip when I was about five and my dad handed me a road atlas, I was hooked for life. The lines on the map all spoke to me: there were stories, experiences, and knowledge there. The lines on the map linked everything together.

I have spent my life on the road or immersing myself in the field of transportation. It is endlessly interesting to me how stuff gets on store shelves and how states manage their road networks. Of particular interest to me is road safety. Roadway fatalities and injuries perhaps move me the most. Unlike any disease, measures can be taken to entirely prevent roadway fatalities and injuries. It can be done and I look up to the people who make this their mission.

In pursuit of the dream of a better and safer transportation network life has presented me with opportunities, challenges, and experiences that I will share using this medium. Some with be fundamentally linked to transportation, others not so much.

We all live downstream, and this is Life Downstream.

New River at Fayette Station Road (Fayette County, WV), February 2009