So you think we're going to pot? Well, if you're talking about pots of the hole-in-the-street variety, you are absolutely right. The much-cussed pits and pockets are busting out all over town, posing a threat to tires and tie rods, as well as considerable consternation for drivers.

No one's happy about the holes. Everyone hates them. However, McCook's last three public works supervisors, going back half a century, have come to understand that they are the inevitable effect of a hard winter on streets, particularly those that are paved with asphalt.

"We had winters about as bad back when I was the public works supervisor," said Jack Lytle, who was public works director from 1960 to 1993. "We just had to do what they're trying to do now: dry the potholes out as much as possible and seal them with a "cold patch."

The cold patch, which the City of McCook gets from Western Engineering from North Platte, is actually a material know as Silvex. It is a bonding material that contains an oil substance which helps it adhere, even if the temperatures outside are on the cold side.

Marty Conroy, now a member of the City Council, followed Lytle as public works director, serving from 1993 until 2004. "I was lucky, as far as potholes go, because those were mostly drought years," Conroy said. "We did not have nearly the problem then that we are having now."

To document the seriousness of this year's pothole problem, I took a drive up Norris Avenue from F to O, then back south on the same blocks. On both sides of those nine blocks (on both sides of the islands) I counted 213 potholes, ranging from teeny-weeny cracks to big, gaping holes.

Why? Conroy and Lytle explain. "It happens mainly on asphalt. The tiniest little crack occurs, then moisture seeps in. This starts the process. Then comes freezing and thawing, freezing and thawing, and before you know it, that tiny little crack becomes a big hole."

The problem is particularly acute on asphalt, especially when it's been several years since the streets have been paved. "That's why they've having such a problem with Norris and J," Conroy said. "They were paved in 1995, which makes it 12 years since they have been resurfaced."

The good news is that Norris and J are both in the city's one- and six-year plans, which -- if there's adequate state funding -- means they will be paved between 2007 and 2013.

'Til then, the burden of street-fixing falls on the nine-member city crew, consisting of Tyler Kalinski, Randy Zwickle and Dob Neuhaus in streets; Ron Maris and Josh Schilz in parks; Bob Samuelson in ballparks; Paul Younger and Tony Rouse, mechanics; and Kyle Potthoff, the public works director.

"We started patching a couple of weeks ago," Potthoff said. "We do it the same now as during Jack and Marty's time. We try to dry the holes, using blowtorches if necessary, then use the Silvex bonding material. There's a lot to do. We will be at it for the rest of the year, getting as much as we can done as quickly as possible."

Areas to the east -- particularly cities like Omaha and Kansas City -- have terrible pothole problems because they have so much more rainfall.

Usually, the pothole problem is not so bad in McCook and other western Nebraska towns because moisture is in short supply. But the ice and snow this year dealt us a triple dose of grief: broken trees; icy streets; and a plethora of potholes.

Yes, potholes are the pits. But, while we're waiting for them to be patched, it might help to look at it this way: the abundance of potholes should slow us down, and make us more careful and alert drivers.