Millbrook Monday: Light and Shadows on the Bridge

I was crouching on the bridge at Millbrook Marsh with my camera when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to find a man and woman walking across the bridge, just a few steps away from me. "What are you taking pictures of?" the woman asked.

It was a Monday morning, a time that I'm not typically out and about. The morning light was fabulous. Mulling several options, I had decided to stop at Millbrook. When I first saw the light and shadows on the bridge, I knew I needed a closer look.

I had parked my car and walked over, straight-away, to the bridge. And I found it covered in sparkles, as though fairies - or maybe angels - had worked the whole night through, sprinkling that bridge with diamond dust. It fairly shone in the bright morning light.

When the woman asked me the question, my first thought to myself was - Well, gee, isn't it pretty obvious that I'm taking pictures of the BRIDGE? But I knew what she meant. She SAW what I was doing, she just wanted to know WHY I was doing what I was doing.

I have been accosted by others before while taking pictures. Usually, people are not rude, just curious. When I was growing up, my family was big on pictures, but only for special occasions, like birthdays and Christmas. The question the woman was asking was really this: What is so special about a bridge?

So I stood up from my crouch, and I addressed her in the kindest tones: "The light and shadows on the bridge," I said. I gestured: "And all the sparkles from the frost."

I didn't tell her my thoughts about the fairies or angels who might have put them there. Magic and whimsy might be just a bit too much for some people, especially early in the morning before their second cup of coffee.

"Ah," she said, and she smiled and nodded; and she looked closer at the frost. "Let us get out of your shot," she added, and they hurried away, across the bridge and into the marsh.

So here is a picture of the bridge, taken while kneeling; and the lines and shadows that brought me here. The frost was mostly on top of the railing, so you can't see it well, but know it's there, sparkling things up quite nicely, covering the railings with diamonds.

I came across two songs about bridges that I like, and I can't decide which to use, so lucky you, you'll get to hear them both! REO Speedwagon, Building the Bridge. And Van Morrison, Across the Bridge Where Angels Dwell.

From this girl, who is a believer in building bridges instead of walls. :-) And who sees magic in every morning, and diamonds in every frost.