Bridges

My favorite place to walk in my hometown used to be along the river and across the Walnut Street Bridge. I was finally able to make that trip again, this past Saturday afternoon. The Walnut Street Bridge became a pedestrian-only span, after Hurricane Agnes, in 1972, made the decades-old structure too unsafe for cars. In the mid-1990's, another big storm took out a section on the opposite side, so you can no longer walk the whole way across the Susquehanna River. When I took my walk, it was as if 25 years hadn't passed since the last time I crossed the span. The metal grated-road covers the steel girders and supports. I used to pretend that I had to balance on one of the beams, or else I'd fall into the river. I walked heel-toe, heel-toe all the way from Front Street to City Island, where the minor league baseball team The Senators now play. Notice the Market Street Bridge, in the background. It has arched spans for the river to flow through. Several of Harrisburg's bridges have arches.

Until Saturday, the last bridge I walked over was the University Bridge, in Seattle. It is an old draw span, with metal grating and it crosses the Lake Washington Ship Canal, that connects Lake Washington to Lake Union. When you walk across this bridge, you never know if you'll have to wait while it goes up to let a boat through. I used to enjoy daydreaming into the water, until the span was lowered - watching the sailboats or tug boats pass by underneath. I often wondered what it would be like to be a bridge tender.

And this is the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris (Pont Neuf means "new bridge" - nowadays it is the oldest bridge in Paris but it was named the "new bridge" when it was built). I walked across it in 1999, so I could take a boat tour down the River Seine. You can see the boats on the right hand side. Also notice the arches on the span.  I remember being struck by the arched bridge and found it funny that Paris could remind me of Harrisburg. Strange how the city of my dreams could resemble the town from which I couldn't wait to escape.