Bridges: Thinking about bridges, I choose to make a distinction. In the previous post I called a highway overpass a bridge which, technically, it is. Yet, an overpass is often connecting artificially built-up land while A Bridge, to my mind, connects gaps in natural features - waterways, gullies and canyons, chasms, the past and the present.
The link to Spans of Time, in the right-hand column, is a case in point. They are man-made crossings of the openings nature has made. Sometimes nature objects - as it did in Oklahoma County these last few weeks - changing dramatically what ODOT has built. This internet photo shows that the bridge seems to have held up pretty well, but the road didn't.
I’ve seen quite a few boats on wheels this morning on I-44, mostly travelling west. I wonder if they’re heading for Oklahoma. Among other things, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board says that Oklahoma has approximately 55,646 miles of shoreline along lakes and ponds; that Oklahoma contains approximately 1,401 square miles of water area in its lakes and ponds (larger than the state of Rhode Island); that Oklahoma has approximately 167,600 miles of rivers and streams; that Oklahoma's longest river is the North Canadian River (752 miles); that Oklahoma's largest lake in surface area is Eufaula (105,000 acres). Lake Eufaula has an Interstate 40 bridge that makes me smile each time I cross it - Lotahwatah (sp?) bridge. That says it all about Oklahoma.
Also on the road this morning was a funeral procession - don’t remember ever seeing one on an interstate highway before. Pulled over to watch a parachutist land at a small airfield alongside the road. A car from Texas pulled in behind me to watch, too. First mistake of the day was when I stopped in Rogersville at a tea room for lunch. The place was charming but the food mediocre.
I’ve seen a lot of Missouri barns. I wish I could have stopped to take photos, but it’s difficult -when you’re travelling at 70 miles an hour - to stop on a dime. None, though, compare to this photo sent by my cousin Pam of her barn in the Rogue River valley in Oregon.
In the early afternoon I spotted a billboard and began an animated ooh, ooh, oohing!: Laura Ingalls Wilder historic home - just my cup of tea.
I spent several pleasant hours in Mansfield, Missouri. Stanley, our tour guide, was very good at his job; seeing the houses was wonderful. Like Laura, I prefer the farm house that Laura and Almanzo built to the rock house built by her daughter. I could easily live in that farmhouse if they should be in need of a live-in caretaker. Wonder if they’re taking appliations?
Leaving Mansfield, it was a short while to Cabool where I turned north for Licking. I had thought, in the morning, that I would be at Licking about noon and spend the rest of the day at the library and cemetery. Not so - I had one more adventure coming. I found out that my gas tank will take me 425 miles before it runs dry.
It had been such a distracting day that I had forgotten to stop for gas. But the Lord has always protected me from my own stupidity and He did so once again. I ran out in a construction zone where traffic was one lane and slow and there was plenty of room for me to sit on the side of the road. It was daylight, with plenty of it left, and there was a lot of traffic passing me by. How could it get any better than that? Then He sent an angel named Jean and her grandson Kade to rescue me. Thank you, Lord, thank you, once again!
When I Finally arrived at Licking, it was late afternoon, I was tired and turning into a pumpkin. The end of the day for me was arriving gratefully at the Scenic Rivers Inn where I was greeted by a friendly, smiling face. I had made it through the day safely and blessed by kindnesses.
