PHOTOGRAPHY

What Magic Can Be Found on the Other Side?

January Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Freestyle”

Should we cross the covered bridge?

I find joy in photographing covered bridges. Maybe it’s the increasingly small numbers of them that still stand. According to the Smithsonian Institute, about 750 exist, most confined to six states: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Vermont, Indiana, New Hampshire, and Oregon.

I’ve traveled throughout New England, photographing as many as possible. The region was once home to more than a thousand covered bridges. Today, only 200 of the bridges remain.

I’m not sure why I’m so fond of them. Perhaps it’s the dwindling numbers.

There’s a covered bridge near me, about 15 miles away in Pepperell. The state paid for this iteration of the bridge, which was completed in 2010. I believe newer bridges lack the charm of older covered wooden bridges. The bridge, however, is one of three in Massachusetts on a public road open to vehicle traffic.

Woodstock, Vt., is home to the Woodstock Middle Bridge, the state built in 1969. The bridge replaced an iron bridge constructed in 1877 and condemned in 1966.

I offer this whimsical version of my original photograph. Maybe it’s a bridge to the other side of the rainbow bridge to visit with a pet you miss or a bridge to heaven to see deceased family members.

It can be whatever you wish. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Thanks for reading.

Check out more Six Word Photo Story Challenges by these authors.

Rhonda Carrier

Allisonn Church

Libby Shively McAvoy

David Mokotoff, MD

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