Bridges.

Growing up my family went to the beach often. Living in North Carolina we had an endless supply of sand and surf a mere 4 hours away. Each summer we went to Hilton Head Island with two other families. It was my favorite week (sometimes two, if I was lucky) of the entire year. I loved having two sisters and four brothers for the week, being able to ride my bike to South Beach and Harbor Town sans parents, boogie boarding, building sandcastles in the sand (anyone get the Robin Sparkles reference?), and apparently eating chicken wings.

But, before you could get onto Hilton Head Island, then to the Sea Pines Circle, and finally to 19 Grey Widgeon, you had to cross a major bridge. And, the thing is I have no idea if that bridge really was huge or if I just remember it being really long. But, in any case that bridge terrified me. All I could think about was what if this bridge cracks, we go sinking into the ocean, and are trapped inside the car. To ease my fears, I convinced everyone in the car we needed to roll down the windows and unlock the doors. Typically my mother did not meet my request (because she does not roll down windows because the wind would mess up her hair), but others typically would oblige. Now that I am older I can think more rationally about bridges and honestly I think they are an engineering and architectural amazement. My brain has a hard time getting behind the physics it must take to know how to build a structure in the water that will hold millions of pounds of weight. Ground shifts, but the structure must stay supportive. I also love the design differences in bridges. There is such an opportunity to be creative and give a bridge beauty and a personality while also serving a function.

All bridge images found via Pinterest search "bridge".