Bridge Building

This is a big week in the life of Onemilebridge Farm. Last August I wrote about how the bridge to our property had begun to fail and needed to be replaced. I wrote about how we loved that bridge and how our friends did too. Our artist friend Janet, who had picnicked with us on it and fished from its weathered boards, painted it. This is the picture I use on my desktop.

It was sad to see our old friend dismantled, but we knew it was inevitable.

It helps, I think, that it's our neighbours from Blair and Sons Sawmill who are doing the work. They do good work and, because our bridge is practically in their garden, they care about its appearance.

The old decking has already found a new home as a retaining wall on a nearby property, and the new decking is being nailed in place today.

This new bridge will weather soon enough, and yesterday Jack Blair, who is nine, fished off it, making him the third generation of his family on the bridge at the time and the first person to enjoy it in its new incarnation.

All in all it's been a relatively painless operation, and in time I imagine we'll become as attached to this bridge as we were to its predecessor. We should go down as soon as the decking is secured and toast it, to make it feel properly at home.