Tuesday, a good friend of the newspaper Paul Ingram, posted on Facebook a very colorful piece of artwork that read, “Stay Another Day in Vicksburg There’s No Way Out Anyway.”

And, posting that on a day that saw travel stresses throughout the city, county and region, just made me laugh.

Tuesday saw a wreck on Interstate 20 East, near mile marker 16, where an 18-wheeler carrying a load of fuel overturned. The contents of the tanker were spilled and traffic along the very busy interstate, in both directions, was impacted for most of the morning and afternoon. Traffic had to be rerouted onto U.S. Highway 80, which also reportedly had a wreck, causing delays.

Before 8 a.m. Tuesday, there was a wreck on 61 North as it crossed over Interstate 20 near Rowdy’s, that caused that very busy thoroughfare, which leads to a number of schools, to back up and slow down for miles.

Then, there was also the unfortunate accident on the swollen and flooded Mississippi River that saw barges collide with the Old Highway 80 Bridge, causing two barges to sink and two others to near sink.

The contents of the barges, coal, were heading south on the fast-moving river. Thankfully, an engineer’s inspection of the bridge determined it was not damaged by the collision.

Needless to say, it was a busy day for law enforcement, emergency officials and maritime officials, working to ensure major modes of transportation in and around Vicksburg remained open Tuesday.

I am fortunate to have a very good view of the back and forth traffic along I-20. Each day, when I have a second to catch a glimpse, I can watch hundreds of cars every few minutes whip their way east and west to destinations near and far.

On a drive around town, with any view of the river, I can often see a tug moving cargo up and down the river to their next destination.

We are amazingly blessed in this area, in this community, to have access to the types of navigation and transportation that we have. And, there are talks to possibly bring rail travel back to Vicksburg. The access to this type of transportation is not only important to individuals, but to our industries who rely on quality access to rail, road and water to move their goods and receive supplies.

In many ways, access to such transportation outlets is what has made Vicksburg the city in which it is and has allowed Warren County to thrive, grow. But, just like with many things, we take such assets for granted and it takes a day like Tuesday to make us fully appreciate what we have.

Maybe Tuesday, for all its stresses and hardships with trying to get around, trying to get from here to there, was a good thing. It might have caused us, just for a moment to slow down, appreciate what we have, thank those who keep things running smoothly, and like Paul said, “stay another day in Vicksburg.”