On a recent road trip through the states, the corresponding fenceposts that cover the west had me brainstorming about Diamond Rio’s turn-of-word ‘90s hit, “Meet In The Middle.”
The timeless classic follows the evolution of young lovers into their married days, along with some deep symbolism behind fence posts, as the couple’s strategy to meet in the middle later becomes their simple way to resolve conflicts in marriage, an iconic moment for country music and relationships.
But seriously, how far did these young lovers walk to meet in the middle? And how did we become a society hard pressed to return a text message when these two were trekking through the weather to meet up almost daily?
Well, I did my research and depending on the type of fencing, these two could have really put in the miles of dedication.
If the fenceposts were a means of securing cattle with the use of barbed wire, the old rule of thumb for distance between fence posts was equal to the average length of the post itself, around 16.5 feet. 700 fence posts at that distance would’ve put about 2.1 miles between the couple, leaving them both walking over a mile to reach their lover’s arms.
However, since the song was released in the ‘90s it’s more likely that cattle farms were using electric fencing. This method can drastically expanded the space between posts, with largest recommendations coming in at 50 posts per mile. That would mean that splitting a 700-fencepost walk would be a total of over 7 miles per lover and over 14 miles in total.
Now since the two were meeting “in the middle beneath that ol’ Georgia pine,” we can deduce that they are in the great state of Georgia. And since Georgia is more commonly known for its production of peanuts and pecans, the fencing may have been for dividing property or just for appearances.
Even still, the average divider fence uses around 10-12 feet of separation between posts (the fence that the music video suggests), leaving the two to take on just south of a mile each, or over a mile and a half in total.
Regardless of the calculation, the answer remains the same…
If you want to capture the 1990s’ romance of the greatest country era, you best forget SnapChat streaks and get to walkin.’
