Two Bridges

“The river has great wisdom and whispers its secrets to the hearts of men.”
Mark Twain 
Busy weekend sanding a wood floor in the hall ready for staining and re-varnishing. Dust bag burst, edge sander scuffed the floor but despite the setbacks I’ve managed to get to the point where I can return the sander to the hire company this morning. Also picked up floor varnish from B&Q, walked into the store and the fire alarm went off and was shown straight to the exit!
In need of some photo therapy I took a stroll to the nearby SDR bridge over the Usk, with a great view of the Transporter Bridge downstream (currently undergoing restoration work). A bit cool but ideal weather for photos with some interesting clouds and clear-ish skies to the east giving some nice morning light. A lifetime ago in another world I sat on the river bank upstream from here at Llanhennock, where I shared a bungalow with two friends, watching the tidal race carrying enormous tree trunks upstream, then with the turn of the tide they’d come hammering back downstream at a hell of a lick. There’s something transformative about being by a powerful river like this, with its surging flow of energy.
Just upstream from here is of course the Roman Legionary fortress town of Caerleon (Isca Augusta); Newport’s Medieval Ship (mid C15th) was discovered nearby, buried in the mud, and just downstream is the Transporter Bridge (early C20th) speaking of the city’s bustling industrial past. Maybe not on the same scale as Twain’s mighty Mississippi but I don’t doubt the river’s influence over time.
Re-energised, I hoofed it back to get down on my knees to varnish the floor. Ah, Life…