There's something whimsical and magical about PNW bridges. It's like taking a step to another beautiful place you have yet to go. The bridge that connects, allows, transitions. The bridge that supports you to cross something otherwise un-crossable. I was thinking a lot about bridges on my hike today.
Funny story about a bridge. The evening of our wedding my husband burnt our bridge. Seriously, we were burning bridges already on our wedding night! Long story hopefully short... We purposely didn't set the wedding date and location and planning until 4-5 weeks before the wedding. We wanted, and had, the best chill outdoor wedding up in the mountains on a lake. However, there was a creek (if you want to call it that) that we had to cross to get to the sandy beach where we were getting married. This water crossing was wide, but only about 3 inches deep. Of course we hoped people would just walk through barefoot or with sandals, because that is us. Well, of course we cannot expect others to be like us because we are all amazingly unique and different. We cannot even expect people to heed our recommendations of not wearing high heels due to the ground being sand. Oh well... So, my husband had to construct a wide bridge over three inches of water. Needless to say, it became his nemesis, and took a lot of his time prior to the wedding. It wasn't just making it - it was also figuring out how to haul it up to the mountains (which if I recall correctly was challenging with many stops) and so forth. To fast forward, at the bonfire the evening of our wedding my husband, friends, and cousins had a blast chain sawing the bridge to burn the bridge in the bonfire. Side note: I've always wondered what other campers in the area must have thought was going on: large bonfire + drumming around the fire + the sound of a chainsaw + flashy lights (I brought a bunch of LED poi for people to play with). It makes me giggle.
Back to bridges... Bridges are that connection that can take us to a different realm. Bridges are the connections we make, and perhaps break, with others. Bridges are the transitions to growth, to change, to what's next.
Bridges can be burnt, broken, and damaged beyond repair yet they are still there. We may not be able to still use them, but there is always still a way. Those connections, though they may not be strong, or those transitions easy, but they still exist, always. There is always the connection to others, to transitions, to fresh new starts, to relationships past and new. There is always a connection to everything with or without bridges we can see with the naked eye.
Bridges are magical because whether they are physically there or not - they are still there.
And now you have heard my ponderings of bridges while hiking today.