November 9, 2007
"Honey, I bought a bridge," my husband said as he walked through the kitchen door one-summer evening nearly a dozen years ago.
I asked him if he meant to say he had shrunk the kids, but no, he said that, in fact, he had bought a bridge.
"Did you say fridge," I asked, certain he did not mean to say he bought a bridge.
"Nope." He repeated again, "I bought a bridge."
To which I replied, "Just out of curiosity, say if one wanted to buy a bridge, how would one go about doing that?"
"Got a great deal," he said.
I was thinking something along the lines of this, "Exactly why do we need a bridge."
"What a great deal," my husband continued, "not only is there oak flooring still intact on the bridge, but guess what? There is a second bridge. It is actually the better of the two and has a plaque indicating that it was built in 1898."
Hey, what can a fella do? A deal like that does not come along just any old day.
The bonus bridge, 25 feet long, would be simple to move. We could borrow Cousin Gene's trailer and haul it easily along the county roads and interstate and then home with no insurmountable difficulty.
Transporting the big bridge, 16 feet wide and 50 feet long, would be a different matter. State law prohibits traveling the freeway with such a long load except for limited daylight hours. County roads are difficult to maneuver with curves and hills to negotiate.
Clearly, we would need a tractor-trailer truck and need to hire the job done.
The cost of the bridges was mounting, the great deal gone.
Epilogue--After twelve years of viewing these two steel bridges that sit in the field north of our house, I have no more complaints.
Can't say as much for the neighbors.
The wildlife loves the bridges though.
I have watched a fox take a nap on one of the beams, cats hunt mice in the weeds that have grown up around the bridges, deer enjoy the salt lick beside them, and wild birds roost on the girders.
I have to add that I am finally at peace with my very own Bridges of Lafayette County.
However, I confess that for a while "The" bridges, as we dubbed them, drove me crazy, I even tried to sell them on eBay once. No bids whatsoever. I ran ads in magazines and told every contractor I knew about them.
Yesirree Bob, there's a sucker born every minute.
And, we are it.
By the way, I have a couple of bridges that are always on the market.
So pass the word. I can make you a great deal!
