The OTG Daily #23 Bridges Too

 As promised, picking up from yesterday, more about bridges. 

I drive 370 miles a week to and from RI to NY and over so many bridges. One of my favorites and one that truly has symbolism in my life is the Thames River bridge in New London, CT which is really more like two 6 lane highways going in opposite direction, than a bridge. It is massive in scale.

The Thames River Bridge, New London, CT

This bridge has major significance in my life because it was literally the bridge to the beginning of my adult life. It was the first time I had left home, my suitcase and a few boxes packed in my father's yellow Volvo. I will never forget driving over the span of this enormous  structure heading south from Boston toward New London. When we reached the crest of the span and I could see the campus spires of Connecticut College on a cold January morning where I was to begin my freshman semester as a late admission. That bridge will forever be my favorite because it represents opening and promise and something new on the horizon. Not two years later I had already transferred to Rhode Isalnd School of Design where I would study film, but I came back to New London specifically to shoot a short film under the massive span of the bridge with my friend Jenny doing a dance performance. Who knows where that film is now - lost to time, but I don't forget the power of the bridge as a backdrop and the miracle of engineering that bridges represent.

Underneath the massive structure of the bridge.

I was so grateful for its presence in my life as a symbol of strength inspiration and possibility in my life at a time when I was opening up to a new career as a filmmaker.  Now I look back on those days in my twenties and see how far I have come. 

Nonetheless I still cross the span of Thames twice a week and it still never fails to affect me.

What are you grateful for today?