RainsWriter: Kayaking Under the Bridge

We intrepid five put our kayaks into the Wabash River at the New Harmony boat landing. Paddling upstream against the current was not difficult. No raging flood waters impeded our advance. Sculpted sandbars lined the banks where a line of wild turkeys paraded. Floating back with the current, the entire majesty of the Harmony Way Bridge loomed into view. As we floated under it to the landing, one could hear traffic overhead. A vibrant mistress, the bridge. Now, a few years have passed and I once again have paddled a kayak under the Harmony Way Bridge.

This time, Dan and I launched our kayaks higher up near the bridge since flood waters covered the boat landing. 

How unique to paddle over the parking lot’s concrete markers. We paddled down the hiking/bike/cart path through the woods. A parula warbler flitted about in the underbrush.

​The flooded cornfield behind the Roofless Church assaulted our senses with a smell of corn liquor as we paddled to within feet of the Roofless Church. Could we strain and bottle the “corn water” as a beverage?

The quiet flood waters surrounding the large trees behind the Atheneum provided respite from the hot sun. Turtles sunning themselves on an exposed log dropped into the water as we paddled by.

Dan paddled through the exposed weeds over the top of the  multi-piece sculpture, Bruised Palindrome, by Eames Demetrios. This adventure should become a part of the artist’s story!

Finally, we paddled back and under the Harmony Way Bridge. This passing under the bridge was notably quieter than the paddle the “intrepid five” took under it years ago. No traffic rumbled overhead. The cliff swallows chattered without dispelling the loneliness and quiet of the bridge.

The Harmony Way Bridge (Illinois side)--Image via Angelia Phillips of flashPress

​The main stream of the swiftly flowing flooded river did not affect our floating quietly in the back water surrounding the bridge’s upright supports. We tilted our heads looking up at the bridge’s iron underpinnings. She still can be saved. The Harmony Way bridge is a national historical structure threatened by inaction. What would past generations, who have relatives living today whose ancestors built the bridge, think of our apathy?

Sometimes it just takes a little paddling in a kayak to understand and be reminded of what is important in life.

​“For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also.” Luke 12:34

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©Ann Rains--July, 2015