Big Fish, Small Pond

Well Spring has arrived here. The snow is gone, the days are longer and the Red Sox are back on TV and the frost heaves have more or less flattened out. What's a frost heave? Man, did I ever forget. A frost heave is an "upthrust of ground or pavement caused by the freezing of moist soil." I got used to dodging potholes in MA, though the 2 tires I've lost is proof that I wasn't always successful. But here the problem in the Spring is more often to be the uprising of the pavement into a "bump" in the road. Sometimes calling them bumps is an understatement. Frost heaves at the end of your driveway or on a side street are more or less harmless. Frost heaves on a back road that aren't visible until it's too late and you are airborne or have bottomed out the suspension of your car is another thing altogether. I was painfully reminded of this while on a back road a few weeks back and bottomed out mine even though I had slowed down. Are frost heaves less damaging than potholes? I'd say in general, yes, but sometimes it's a toss up. At least sometimes frost heaves get marked with an orange "Bump" sign. I've never seen a pothole marked by anything other than a plastic wheel cover that popped off of some unlucky person's car.