Building Bridges

This farm is no different from the rest of our country. We have some crumbling infrastructure that needs to be fixed. Leaning barns, barns in disrepair, old shelters that need cleaning and renovating and bridges that need to be either straightened or replaced. One such bridge was replaced this past weekend.

Before - March 2016

This bridge went across part of our small pond, from the "island" to the "mainland". It had been leaning for a while and the treads were getting rotten. You could still cross it as long as you stepped on the ends of the treads that were directly over the supports, but that wasn't a long-term solution. So I set about doing demo on the bridge by removing the treads to assess the strength of the supports.

Rot is apparent on both supports.

As I was able to remove the treads by hand and didn't need a crowbar or pry bar, it was obvious that some rot had taken place and the nails weren't holding much anymore. It was time to get new poles to replace the old ones. So off to Agri Supply I went in search of 16 foot poles to span the area.

Using the trailer as well as the truck bed I got the two poles home and backed them into position on the island. After muscling the first one off the truck/trailer and standing it up in the spot I wanted it, I dropped it into place. PERFECT!

Next one, same thing. Placed it. Dropped it and... CRACK!  OOPS!!! That one had a big knot in the middle and it broke. In hindsight that was a good thing as that knot would have been a weak point and probably broken when it was least convenient, like when someone was crossing.

Oops!

Back to Agri Supply for another pole. They gave me another one without any questions, though I showed them the above picture so they'd know I wasn't taking advantage. I picked out the sturdiest, most knot-free-looking pole I could find. Once I got it back, it dropped in place, but not without "minor" incident. I heard a small crack when it hit the ground. It didn't bend or flex. When I turned it over and inspected it I didn't see anything. I left it turned over (to flex against the crack) and got to work attaching the treads.

It's Infrastructure Week!

I only managed to get the bridge halfway complete the first day. Two trips to the store for poles killed some of the progress.

A little more than halfway

I managed to finish it on the second day and now we have a solid, sturdy and wider (by 4 inches) bridge to cross. It looks crooked in the pictures, but that's the bumps and curves in the poles that I was compensating for.

We still have two other bridges to fix, but this one was showing the most wear and is used the most. The other two go off into the woods or areas we don't walk around in as often. I'll remove the old bridge supports soon and will eventually use them for garden borders or something like that.

On to the next project...

Good Friends, Good Fishing, Good Times

Despite all the work that seems to go on around here, we do take some time off to relax and charge our batteries. There is no better way to do that than having friends and family come for a visit. Neta and I love to host and enjoy our time spent catching up, sharing meals and just showing our place off. This past weekend was no exception.

Our friends Kevin and Mandy McCoy, from Colorado, stopped by a few days ago for a long weekend. I've known them for over 30 years, since my days in the Navy, and they are some of the nicest and easiest to please folks you'll ever meet. They wanted a relaxing visit and a chance to leave behind the cold temps and snow of Colorado (it was in the 20's and 30's) for some warm Georgia sunshine. Oh yeah and...Kevin, being an avid fly-fisherman on the rivers and lakes north of Denver, wanted to see what our pond had to offer. He was looking to catch a nice largemouth bass. He was in for a surprise.

Kevin & Mandy McCoy...of Colorado fame.

So Kevin and I headed to the pond just after the crack of dawn the very first morning.

Photo credit - Kevin McCoy

Okay...actually the first morning we decided to sleep in a bit and eat breakfast first since they were tired from traveling the day before and all of us having stayed up late catching up. So we got out to the pond around 10.

Kevin let me use one of his fly rods and he gave me a quick tutorial on how to cast.

Now it was time to get fishing. Kevin caught the first fish, a bluegill. He was quite impressed as you can see.

Judging by his reaction they apparently don't grow them that big in Colorado. Kevin started catching bluegill after bluegill and he appeared to be having a great time.

A while later he switched flies to something that would sink a little bit and he began to catch some crappie. He was equally impressed with their size as well.

He was having a crappie time!

Later Mandy and Neta came down to the pond to see how we were doing and Mandy got in on the act reeling in her own Bluegill.

A Scottish Lass with her first Georgia fish!

It had been a while since Neta's dad, Terrell, had been down to the pond and fished. With all the heat and temps in the 90's since since mid to late spring, who could blame him? But when Kevin was started breaking out his rods and flies, Terrell got interested again...real fast. It helped that it was in the mid-70's that morning. He worked his way around the shore with one of his spinning rods and caught several before relaxing in the shade and watching Kevin and me.

The Old Man and the Sea.

Unfortunately, Kevin never got his bass and the fish eventually stopped biting around lunchtime so we headed up to the house for our own bite to eat. I told Kevin that he'd given me a gift...he taught me fly-fishing, a type of fishing that is both peaceful and artistic. I really marveled at trying to land the fly in just the right spot, watching it sit on the water and seeing the fish come up and strike at it (mostly) and swallow it (sometimes). It is a fascinating and enjoyable way to fish.

We tried them again early the next morning. This time it was just after sunrise. Kevin caught a few, but I had no luck. We quit after an hour or so, came back to the house, got cleaned up and spent the afternoon and evening in Savannah.

We really enjoyed having Kevin and Mandy here. It was a fun, relaxing weekend filled with good friends, good food, good laughter and good times that we won't forget. We can't wait for their return.

In the meantime, if you need to find me, check the pond first.

I'm hooked!