Bridges

I am on vacation and I have time to write an entry in the morning for a change. The day is before me and I am not all tired out and ready for sleep.

When I was growing up, my family didn't stray too far from home. "Stay home where you belong," was pretty much the mantra of my dad who lived across the street from his parents' home on the family farm and only went out of state two times that I can remember in my lifetime. There was an unspoken message that the world was a big, bad, and scary place.

I pretty much internalized that message and find it hard to get out into the world and overcome my fears. I always hated going over bridges, and now I realize that the fear was not irrational after seeing those poor people plunge to their deaths as the bridge collapsed. I remember my son's friend's mother who always unbuckled her seat belt and rolled down her window whenever she went over a bridge. No one would laugh at her now.

So here I sit on this morning thinking about bridges falling as I read in the newspaper how poorly the bridges in our state are rated and how there is no funding and even if money were plentiful it still would take years and years to make all the necessary repairs.

Yet, we will all go about our business as usual. How can we not? Faith not fear gets us through our days, and lots and lots and lots of luck.