Bridging the Gap - Day 2 ... and Birds...
Mom & I actually drove out to LOOK for bridges yesterday! Well... I thought we were just going to take a bit of a drive down to Sandy Point, snap a few shots of the Bay Bridge, and then maybe a couple of smaller bridges on the way home. However... there was an accident on the Bay Bridge AGAIN this weekend (Sunday) and by the time I got to Annapolis traffic on 50 E was backed up all the way into the city! (LAST weekend's accident was fatal) I don't know how many miles that is - but it's SEVERAL! Sooo I gave up that idea immediately. I almost gave up the idea of getting near ANY bridge - because having traffic DEAD stopped on "the bridge" meant that every Tom, Dick & Harry was trying to use ANY other bridge possible to get across the big water! Not that ANY other bridge actually goes across the big water ... but desperate times call for desperate measures, and having one's vacation held up by an accident leaves NO ROOM for being reasonable! Besides that, the search for another way gives a body something "to do" while waiting for the accident to clear so that you can actually get to the bridge that WILL take you across the big water! I totally understand this reasoning... Especially if you have small children OR senile parents in the car. Because as long as you are driving neither one realizes that you are either lost or that any thing else is wrong at all! (it's TRUE!) Sooooooo... we did a LOT of driving around and being stuck in traffic on many roads trying to even find an "interesting" bridge. See? Cuz I know where plenty of BRIDGES are in Annapolis -- It IS a town on the water - with the Chesapeake Bay AND the Severn River AND the South River! Thus lots of bridges! Boring bridges! As luck would have it ... or it might have been God, though I really didn't call Him into service on this one - we did get stopped at this light! (you can big all pics)
If you look carefully (or big it) you can see the cross bars down which indicate (not a train) that the draw bridge is going to move! Now, this was kind of interesting to me, and I ended up having to hop out of the car to take a picture - BECAUSE - I am used to draw bridges that go up and down - which is pretty neat in itself - but I had never seen a bridge that did THIS!
THIS bridge slid out. And from where I was standing, it LOOKED like that boat could go through on THIS side of the sliding out part OR on the other side -- it chose the far side - but it may be that there were mechanical things happening in that middle that I couldn't see because a 2nd boat came along just a second later and it too chose to go through on the far side. Now the really FUN part about this story is that I had been STANDING on this bridge about half an hour - maybe 45 minutes sooner than this, taking THIS picture...
... which was an okay picture - but nothing that I found really fabulous! I never even noticed that the bridge I was standing on was a draw bridge!!! This bridge however is one that I was STUCK in the traffic on -- if you big it, you can see that there is indeed much traffic pretty much sitting still on it... and would be for quite some time! Soooo... I'm thinking this whole bridge thing IS going to be as hard as I originally thought it was going to be... and I'm probably going to have to resort to quite a few archive shots! But we'll see. We never know where our days might take us!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Around the House...
The lastest "trial" around the house is that we now have a family of birds living in our chimney! This happened last year about this time too. The babies were so LOUD that Dennis threatened to "smoke them out" -- but of course, I wouldn't LET him -- they're BABIES! Wellllll... apparently Mama has remembered my generosity and blessed our chimney with her brood again this year! And I believe her brood is bigger this year! So yesterday I get this bright idea - a real lightbulb moment - that I'm going to get a PICTURE of the birds in my chimney! So I open the door on the fireplace, and I open the screen on the fireplace, and I try to LOOK up in the fireplace - but it's DARK in there... and noisy! Sooooo I just stick my hand in there with the camera and I click! HOLY TOLEDO! Mama Bird went BALLISTIC!!! No! She did not attack me! She just YELLED at me! And if Dennis and I thought her brood was loud, we knew NOTHING until we heard from the Mama! Once she settled down I thought... "well... that didn't go so badly... except that I didn't get anything that even vaguely resembled a bird in my camera!"... so I tried it again! I still didn't get anything that resembles a bird, but I got a good clear shot of the cobwebs and our half open damper! We BELEIVE the nest is actually on top of the damper. They are definitely closer to the fireplace than they are to the roof! And this evening I looked in and asked Dennis WHY there is insulation in our fireplace? He said "No honey... there's NO insulation in the fireplace." ... I didn't ask IF there was ... I asked WHY! I said "Honey... I beg to differ with you!" I think the nest is falling apart! I'm sure soon they will be big enough to fly away! I think we need to get a screen on our chimney before NEXT hatching season!
Labels: Bridges
posted by Melli at
1:01 AM
13 comment(s):
I went out in search of bridges today, too. I came home with one. Not good. But I also made an appointment with the optometrist, and picked up a friend who had ridden the bus into town -- and accidentally took the wrong exit on the freeway and went for a bit of a scenic drive.
OC is in SF and he called me on my new cell phone, which I was trying to figure out how to answer, when I realized, too late, that I was in the wrong lane. We only went a couple miles out of our way, and found NO bridges. Alas.
By
Anonymous, at
8/24/2008 11:51 PM
Such neat bridges. I haven't seen a draw bridge since I was a kid.
By
Minkydo, at
8/25/2008 12:22 AM
Great finds Melli. I'm wondering if the boats that went through were going the same way. I believe depending on which way you are going depends on which side you go through. I think. It's been a long while since I've seen this kind.
I'd go for a screen as soon as the babies fly the coop, uh, chimney!
By
Carletta, at
8/25/2008 1:25 AM
I have seen such a bridge somewhere here too but I don't really remember where. My cats would be soooo happy to host a bird family in the chemney ! They would all sit around and tchirp !
My son is gone home and here is the calm after the storm. it is amazing what one single person can take of room. Phone ringing non stop, friends coming in and out, fridge rubbed etc.etc !
By
Ingrid, at
8/25/2008 1:37 AM
I am expecting to get my camera back next week so I am glad I have enough bridges in my archives for this challenge. At least I remember them so, I will have to check the archives as well.
Beautiful shots, your bridges are very busy...with traffic on the water!! just lovely summer snapshots.
By
MaR, at
8/25/2008 2:18 AM
I've been on the Bay Bridge, and I have sailed over the Tunnel part too!
I think it's nice that Mom goes with you on your hunts.
By
Anonymous, at
8/25/2008 9:06 AM
Yep, I'd say definitely time for a screen! We had a squirrel come down through ours once!
I may do the bridge challenge...I have a couple of pictures on hand, and there are a couple of bridges in town I have been wanting to photograph. I see them off the highway, though, and have to figure out where to park in order to get a picture! I don't think there is any place to pull over and stop.
By
Anonymous, at
8/25/2008 9:23 AM
Oh dear, READING YOUR POST and Quilly's comment, ( among others) I think we're much more challenged than we cared to believe before we took the challenge!
You'll read about my day in tomorrows post, similar, yet different!
Still, you managed to get what you wanted, and so did I! Well done!
By
Jientje, at
8/25/2008 3:44 PM
oh! i love your bridges... both of them, actually. the draw bridge is most interesting, though.
By
juliana, at
8/25/2008 4:26 PM
I think I would rather find birds than racoons. I watched a news clip about a chimney expert and a mama racoon with two babies was his hardest capture. He actually had to stick his head up in the chimney to get them. .....and I think my job is bad!
By
Lazy Daisy, at
8/25/2008 4:53 PM
I loved your bridge pictures. Now I know why my daughter drove around the other day when the bridge was closed. It let me think something was happening. Then you end up with two bridge pictures out of it. Wow!
Baby birds in your fireplace. You have so much excitement.I would get that chimney screen.
By
Dr.John, at
8/25/2008 6:51 PM
Good evening Melli, I have enjoyed all of your water and bridge pictures..I like being around water, even if I can not swim...I went with my mom today to look for bridges and most of the roadways that cross water... don't always have a bridge.
I hope the birds can find their way out of your chimney...I would love to hear them chirping....
Take care.. have a fun day tomorrow. Hugs, Baba
By
Baba, at
8/25/2008 8:00 PM
I like the way you went out looking for bridges and you got some good shots. I had the chimney birds. I hired someone who specializes in getting them out (after babies are grown) and then put in a chimney cover. I can't remember how he did it. It's a special kind of bird that nests in chimneys. Chimney Birds will tell you about them if you are interested.
By
Carver, at
8/25/2008 9:35 PM
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