Cedar Bridge

I think you can already see one thing that's different about Cedar Bridge...you can drive through it. It's the only one left of the covered bridges of Madison County that is open to vehicles. And there's a reason for this; the bridge was actually reconstructed in 2003-04 after it was destroyed by an arsonist's fire. Built in 1883 by Benton Jones (I've mentioned him before; he built several of the covered bridges in the county), a picture of it graces the cover of Robert Waller's Bridges of Madison County book. Be sure to click on this link to see some historic pictures of the bridge and its more recent claim to fame.

This bridge is freshly painted in its traditional barn red color. It seemed strange to see the big, modern bolts holding the timbers in place as I drove through it.

I think my favorite part of visiting this bridge was a pretty little park on the east side of the creek. There was a gazebo, some benches and a couple of brick walkways along with the "Oprah steps" up to the bridge itself.

The flowers planted around the picnic area were so pretty. In all this little park would make a nice place for a family reunion or a romantic evening sipping wine and watching the sunset. I think that's exactly what Robert Kincaid and Franchesca did here!

Doors

My Belgium blogger friend, Jientje, has issued a challenge for her regular readers....doors. She loves to photograph doors; they intrigue her. So, for the next week, she's invited us to post about doors. The challenge actually begins on Monday, but I've decided to offer a preview of the doors I'll blog about....French doors. Not your Americanized version of French doors...those multi-paned double doors that swing open onto your patio or sunroom...but rather real doors photographed in my two favorite France-places, Paris and Provence. I'll share some beautiful doors as well as some unusual ones. The unusual ones begin with this photo taken from inside my B&B in Goult. There was a normal door leading from the living room out into the garden, but it was very warm the afternoon I took this picture, and Dani had opened the glass door, leaving in place this 'door' of beautiful, thick netting appliqued with grapevines. The breeze could circulate, but the bugs could not; they stayed where they belonged--in the garden! The netting billowed with each breeze and made a charming alternative to a screen door. Come visit my blog tomorrow and I'll share the door that opens into my lovely 'home' when I visit Goult...La Treille.

Go to Jientje's blog, Heaven in Belgium, for more on doors and to see her great photography.

A New Cousin

The phone rang within minutes of my arrival home. "Hello!" I answered. "Hello" said the voice on the other end of the line, "my name is Zane and I think we might be cousins." Ever skeptical of strange phone calls, my reply was "I don't think so." Yet as Zane began to tell me his story, he convinced me. He lives in Idaho and is doing genealogy research on his family. He started reading off a list of names asking me if any of them sounded familiar. They were the names of my great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, aunts, uncles, on and on. The guy was for real! His great-grandmother was the sister of my great-grandmother, so that indeed, makes us cousins...a few times removed (you can figure that out!). I'm sure for most of you this wouldn't be a momentous phone call; you are probably surrounded by extended family. I'm not, though. Almost all of my mom's family is gone; we never knew much of anything about my dad's family. So, to make this connection with someone who is doing the family research was very exciting. He called and talked to my dad who has the phone numbers/names of the few remaining Phifer/White clan and he promised to send me the information he's gathered. He's traced the family line back to our common great-great-grandfather who served and died in the Civil War. How fun is this??

I sent Zane this picture. It was taken of my grandmother, Jessie Belcher, when she was 16 years old. She would be his great-aunt, I believe. I'm amazed to have acquired a brand new cousin with just a phone call out of the blue!

My New Hero

This is Brian. He's my hero! He's also one of the flight nurses who works for me. Brian is one of those guys who can fix almost anything, so when he told me to bring my computer in for him to look at, I did. He took out a battery (who knew computers have batteries?) and replaced it. Total cost $1.45. And my computer works! I'm so thrilled to have it back...hard drive intact, cheap easy fix. So...hooray for Brian!! Now if I could only get the house electrical breaker that won't re-set fixed, the rear brake drums on my car replaced, the flood debris cleaned up from my yard, the pasture re-fenced, and win the lottery so I can make another trip to France, life would be so good. It feels like I go from one problem-solving event to the next in a never-ending cycle!

If you'd like to know more about the program I manage and my other awesome staff, click here.

An Explanation

Sorry for no posts lately....my computer kind of crashed and I don't have much time at work to be creative! Please don't desert me...I will return!

Covered Bridge #3

The next covered bridge on our tour of the bridges of Madison County is right in the heart of Winterset, IA. It was moved here to Winterset City Park in 1970 from its original site near Bevington, a tiny 'town' of a few houses and two gas stations right off Interstate 35. I would liked to have witnessed these bridge moves...it must have been quite a spectacle to see these relics from the past being hauled down the highway by semi's! The bridge is called the Cutler-Donohue Bridge, named after two of the county's pioneer families. Since no one could decide which family should have naming rights, they decided on the hypenated name. Iowa folks are so diplomatic!

Lucie and I decided to wander a bit after taking a few pictures of the bridge. It was a beautiful Sunday morning, and the trail beckoned. First, we came to this pretty stone bridge. The sign by it said it was used in filming the Clint Eastwood movie, "The Bridges of Madison County." This is the spot where Robert and Franchesca enjoyed a picnic lunch.

The path was shady and cool; the tree canopy completely covered the sky in places, dappling the gravel path with sunlight. We saw a few birds and some beautiful butterflies.

Then a rustle in in the underbrush drew our attention to this small fellow. He was a fawn of the year, still dusted with his baby spots. How I wished to have Parker with me! I could almost hear his tiny voice shrieking "Baby, Grammy" Yes, this did look like his favorite movie character, Bambi.

After about 20 minutes of hiking, Lucie and I came to this stone tower. It's named Clark Tower after another of Madison County's founding pioneers. It seems strange to stumble on this structure resembling the turret of a castle deep in the Iowa woods. The view from the top is pretty awesome, though. If you click on the link, you can enjoy it from the comfort of your desk chair.

Walking through the woods on a cool and clear Sunday morning is a perfect way to end the weekend. I hope you've enjoyed learning about

another of Madison County's historical covered bridges.

Boys and Trees

What is so magical about trees to boys of all ages? and species....even Kuma loves to jump up into trees with Chase.

This big willow tree graces Trav's front yard. Once Chase was in it, he called Kuma up to join him. Then, of course, Little Parker had to get into the act. I tried and tried to get P. to take off Travis' cap, but all I got was "No, Grammy!" So, okay, he doesn't care that the world can't see his shiny dark hair; he's adorable anyway.

I had a lovely visit in Montana. Lots of cuddling and hugging, lots of food, wine, Olympics, and movies. We spent one afternoon at Chico Hot Springs for a long soak in the warm mineral water with pizza and hot wings for dinner. And I got a wonderful bit of news from Becky and Travis while I was there. Not sure if I'm supposed to share it with the world yet, but here's a hint: they're gonna need a bigger house come next March.

My Favorite Teenager

Meet Chase, my 13 year old grandson. He's lying in Travis' front yard with Kuma and Rigby, his buddies for the short summer that he's here in Montana at his dad's. Tomorrow he leaves, flying back to New Hampshire and his mom and step-dad. School starts the end of the month, and he's excited about being in 8th grade. He'll enjoy this year of being Big Man on Campus; next year he starts all over at the bottom of the pecking order at Plymouth High School. Chase is the sweetest teen I know! Yes, he can be argumentative and mouthy...just ask his dad! But he's also a very loving boy. He's always been a hugger and a cuddler and even at 13, he still enjoys holding Grandma's hand or giving me a big squeeze. I hope he never gets too old for that; it makes my day! For now, he thinks he wants to be an architect when he grows up. I think he'd be good at that as he's very artistic. I'd love to take him to Paris and show him some of the world's greatest art and most beautiful buildings....some day!

A Boy and A Bucket

Give a toddler a bucket, a wading pool full of water and a beautiful warm Montana morning and you have all the ingredients for a great day. What 2 year old can resist filling his dump truck up with water and then...dumping it out? Parker and I had a grand time playing in the water that morning. He is full of curiosity and is constantly learning. He's definitely two... his favorite words are "mine!" and "no!" He really likes "no, no, no, no, no!" Seems like stringing them together really makes the "no" emphatic. He's easily redirected, though, when he gets into something he's not supposed to which makes him easy to care for. We read books, rocked, took walks, watched his favorite movies, "Dumbo" and "Bambi" and played in the water. What more could a Grandma ask??

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

My bags are packed, and I'm ready to go! Lucie is safely boarded at the vet's, and I've put food, water, and litter boxes out for Sissy. My destination....Gardiner, MT...pictured here. It's tiny town located right outside the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park. I'm not going to see the sights of Yellowstone, tho. I'm going to see my son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons. It's been a year since I last saw them and that's 'way too long. I just talked with Becky. Travis and 13-year old Chase are in the backcountry of Yellowstone on a work-related trip. They'll hike almost 90 miles before they come back to civilization on Thursday. Becky and I will have Tuesday and Wednesday evenings to ourselves and have marathon chick-flicks planned. I'm bringing Juno, A Good Year and La Vie en Rose, movies that won't appeal to either Travis or Chase. Poor lil Parker...when you're two, you don't get a say in what the Mommies watch! I hope to be able to blog while I'm in Montana. We'll see how that works.

Holliwell Bridge

I drove down the winding road following the sign to Holliwell Bridge. If you're familiar with Iowa at all, then you know that when the road winds, you're headed towards moving water. Otherwise the roads are laid out straight as sticks...north/south and east/west...framing fields of corn and soybeans. The newer gravel road bypasses Holliwell Bridge. Like the other remaining covered bridges in Madison County, this one is closed now to all but foot traffic. The concrete and steel bridge that I took this picture from has none of the charm of the restored 1880 bridge that still spans the Middle River. ( I think the early settlers must have run out of interesting names by the time they arrived in Madison County!) The river is high for this time of year; it's been one of the wettest summers on record with recurrent flooding everywhere in the state.

Holliwell Bridge was one of several in the county built by Benton Jones. It is the longest of the covered bridges and measures 110 feet at the roof line. Adding in the approaches to the bridge brings its total span to 170 feet. This bridge was renovated in 1995 at a cost of $225,000. It appears in the movie The Bridges of Madison County.

The long walk through the bridge was shady and cool on this warm summer morning. Names, dates and messages are inscribed on the wall lattice in this bridge just like the others. It seems an empty, flat surface is just too tempting for most people to ignore. Somehow, though, the record of their presence adds to the patina of history that polishes these reminders of early settlers and more primitive times.

A Lovely April Day in Provence

I took this photo at the close of an absolutely perfect day in Provence. My travel journal reminds me that I awoke the morning of 19 April 2007 with the feeling that the day should be spent simply exploring Goult. I let Mickey and Susan do their shopping 'thing' while I stayed home wandering the village. I visited every shop, wrote, read, and gleaned valuable information from the proprietress of Gatti about renting the adorable pink and blue house I've blogged about in the past. After lunching at Cafe de la Poste, I strolled thru the Goult cemetery taking pictures of interesting head stones. Yes, I know you think I'm a bit weird, but I love old cemeteries...so much history and human drama lies buried in them. I hiked down the trail that starts at the windmill heading towards the village of Traban. Steep and rocky the hike back up it was quite a challenge. Late afternoon found Mickey, Susan and I on a road trip to Joucas and Murs, where I bought three little pieces of pottery. The scented diffuser filled with lavender oil that I bought that afternoon now sits on its matching sage green saucer on the table next to my bed. Every night I swirl the oil, and the fragrance of Provence wafts over my pillow...what memories it evokes! The day ended with a picnic dinner of wine, cheese, olives and baguette on Patrick's terrace...one of my favorite picnic places. While we recapped the day, I spotted the orange and white tabby watching us from across the street and had to capture her on film. The house behind this window vignette was in the process of being renovated, but that didn't bother this Provencal tabby. It makes me sad that Patrick has since sold his house there in Goult. But I've learned that the house under renovation has been completed and is now available to rent for holidays. Wonder if it comes complete with cat??