The bridge.
My friend calls me and says "Let's walk to the bridge."
I say to my husband, "Let's walk down to the bridge."
This is a new thing in our lives, this bridge. We never paid much attention to that bridge before. Well, Misty did. She always barked at it as we crossed it. At least, in her younger days she did. Max cared less. It mattered not to him.
The bridge is less than a mile from my home. It's being rebuilt (the bridge is, not my home).
Work began on it August 4th of this year. The official word is that it won't be completed until near May of 2009. I don't know why it will take that long. Most of my neighbors are flabbergasted by this time estimate. It's such a small bridge, crossing a very small creek.
I wish I had had the foresight to take a picture of the bridge in its 'before' state, for comparison purposes. But I didn't think to start shooting pictures until nearly ten days after construction (rather, deconstruction) began.
The above photo is the first in the series that I plan to follow up on as the bridge is rebuilt. There's a giant shovel and an outhouse on the bridge. This is the old bridge, before it was torn down. You can see my husband walking toward it. We were surprised that so much land had been cleared away. We've heard (in the way that neighbors hear such things) that the road adjoining will have to be built up higher to accommodate the new bridge.
Same day photo, from the other side of the bridge. This is the side which we live on. At the time I took this photo, we could still walk across the bridge. We have been completely displaced by this bridge reconstruction.
Small as the bridge was, it did enable us get to town, and to our jobs every morning in the shortest distance/time possible. Now, with the roundabout detour, it takes us about five miles out of our way. Roundtrip, that's almost 10 miles of extra driving a day. No, we aren't too happy about this change.
Notice the addition of new equipment in the bottom right corner of the above photo. This one was taken about a week or so after the first ones. I don't know enough about road equipment to name these machines, but they are incredible to look at up close. At this stage, we could still walk onto a portion of the bridge. A section of it had been removed so we could no longer walk all the way across.
On the day I took these pictures, last week, my friend and her daughter and I had walked to the bridge. It's a nice walk in the cooler temps of the afternoon (when it's not so humid) or early evening while there is yet enough light to walk without a flashlight. We were fascinated with the change that had taken place. We clambered about the creek banks and studied the remains of the bridge foundation. Amazing what goes into building (rather, the tearing down of) a small country bridge.
See that metal I-beam in the lower left of the above photo? It was the only way to cross the creek without getting your feet wet the day I took this picture. While Alyson and Marlene removed their shoes and walked across the shallow creek, I side-stepped across the beam, thinking myself quite bold and daring. We explored the other side of the creek before crossing back again, pausing to take a picture from a nearby rock.
The symbolism of the bridge cannot be ignored. Often, we don't pay attention to the signs that appear to us in our lives unless we encounter them in a dream. However, I like to read the signs that appear in my waking life as well.
That bridge down the road from our homes has caused us all to make a change in how we get to our jobs, and to town. It's a change that we are not thrilled about, but I think we've finally gotten into the habit of turning left at the end of our street instead of right.
Changes have occurred during the past five months that have greatly impacted my life. Not in a devastating manner, but a major change just the same. My friend also faces some great changes in her life.
We are both crossing bridges this year. For me, it was when my son graduated and moved to Baltimore in May and June, then my puppies died just two months apart. For me, these were huge changes emotionally. My friend's oldest son is in college, and her youngest son has joined the Coast Guard. Two thirds of her children have moved away from home... yeah, that's a major life change. I know it's been a difficult transition, but she is crossing that bridge in her life bravely.
Bridges join places, they help us get to where we are going. They offer a way to move from one place to another, to journey from one place in our life to another place. They help us transition from what we know and what's familiar to what we don't know. They take us to new territory. Bridges allow us to make transitions in relative safety. They cross wide rivers, and span deep waters. A well-built bridge holds us securely as we cross. We don't have to fear crossing a solid and sturdy bridge.
Maybe that's why we enjoy walking down to the old country bridge these days. While we complain about how the bridge construction has inconvenienced us, we can't help but notice how nice the weather is, or recount our day at work or school, or Marlene's school day, or how my son is doing in Baltimore, or her son's latest letter from New Jersey. We ask each other about our neighbors, how they are. Have we seen this one or that one? Not gossip talk... genuine concern. The kind that leads us to visiting someone who may need a visit, bringing food or a kind and encouraging word. We have a great neighborhood... we have good neighbors.
It is good that they have removed the old bridge. So what if it takes nine months to rebuild it? Like a pregnant woman, we are expecting a wonderful event when that new bridge is opened. We'll be able to once again drive our usual routes to work.
We don't know for sure where we will be next May. We don't know what's on the other side, what waits for us down the road, what the future holds for us. We can't know.
But this is for sure... The Bridge is going to get us where we need to be.
