The Bridge Through the Trees

So I have been working on something different. If you recall, I said I wanted to post something once a week for a year, as therapy, to work on my writing. In reality, that hasn’t happened.  My last post was the 24th post this year. If you’re wondering, this is the 43th week of the year. Which is fine, but yeah, every two weeks is what I’ve been doing.

And I have been working on my next post for three weeks, sort of intermittently, and I’m not done yet. Partly because it isn’t coming together easily, but mostly because I am been doing something else, something that has been using my brain. 

So, I thought I ought to post something, you know, to reset the “clock”.  And I thought I would tell you what I have been doing.

This project is probably the coolest thing I have ever worked on. It started several years ago; at Mile High Pines, a camp I was involved with.  It was an elevated walkway through the trees with octagon platforms with octagon roofs. It was for the science camp, but also for everyone else who wanted to stroll through the trees. I had worked on designing it, and I was planning to build it. But that didn’t happen.  

Fast forward to this year. A lot has happened. For various reasons, the project was put on hold, Mile High Pine camp bought another camp, and I had a stroke.  

Well, it is on again. I am working on relocating the bridge to the new camp. It is doable for me only because the design was basically done, I had designed the octagon platforms as well as the ramps and walkways before I had the stroke. What I am doing is putting the pieces, the octagons, in some sort of order. The site slopes pretty good, and figuring out the elevations is tricky, there is a 24’ limit for the height of the platforms, a 10’ octagon 24’ off the ground, what can I say, that is cool. And I am trying to make it fit between the trees., and of course there is a spiderweb. 

I love that I am able to work on planning for the bridge through the trees. Honestly, it is brutal at times, running up and down the site, but it is a good brutal. Unfortunately, I can’t imagine building it. But I didn’t think I would be able to do the planning either.  So, we will see what another year brings. 

As far as the writing goes, well, I have a couple of visits to the site to finish what I’m doing and a couple days of drafting.  And then we will see, the clock has been reset, and it is ticking.