I’ve come to believe that some of the best stories in life happen on dirt roads.

Maybe it’s because dirt roads don’t seem to be in much of a hurry.

They don’t have traffic lights every hundred yards. They don’t have somebody riding your bumper because you’re only doing five miles over the speed limit. And nobody seems to mind if you slow down every now and then just to see what’s around the next bend.

Dirt roads have a way of taking you places that aren’t necessarily on the map.

And sometimes those are the places where the good stuff happens.

Growing up around South Texas, dirt roads were just part of life. You didn’t need a GPS to tell you where you were going. You just knew which road led to the creek, which one went to somebody’s ranch and which one you probably shouldn’t be driving down unless you had a pretty good reason.

And if you did get lost?

Well, that’s how you found another road.

Some of my favorite memories aren’t from fancy vacations or expensive restaurants. They’re from simple times. Riding around with somebody you cared about. Sitting in the bed of a pickup. Watching the sun go down. Talking about absolutely nothing and somehow remembering the conversation years later.

That’s the thing about dirt roads.

They tend to slow you down enough to actually notice life happening around you.

You see an old barn that’s been leaning a little farther to one side every year. You see a windmill turning in the distance. You pass a pasture full of cattle and wonder what they’re thinking about.

Probably the same thing cattle have been thinking about for the last hundred years.

“Grass is good.”

There are stories in those old places.

Some are happy.

Some are sad.

And some become songs.

I think that’s one reason country music has always made so much sense to me. The best country songs aren’t usually about perfect lives. They’re about real lives.

They’re about love and loss, hard work, bad decisions, good memories, old friends, small towns, long highways and the places we came from.

They’re about people.

And people tend to collect stories wherever they go.

I’ve got a few myself.

I’m sure you’ve got plenty too.

Maybe that’s why I like the phrase:

“Dirt roads build better stories.”

You might leave home thinking you’re just going for a drive.

A couple hours later, you’ve got a memory you’ll carry for the rest of your life.

So don’t be afraid to take the dirt road every now and then.

Take the long way home.

Stop and look around.

Pull over when you see something interesting.

Listen to the wind.

Watch the sunset.

And if the road gets a little rough?

Well, that’s alright.

The potholes just make the story better.

Because someday, somebody’s going to ask you where that old story came from.

And you’ll probably smile and say…

“Well, it started down a dirt road.” 🤠🎸