No Where Bridge

Way back in the olden days, say from fall of 1975 until the fall of 1976, I had an apartment in St. Cloud next to the Mississippi River on St. Germain Street. I had to traverse the Mississippi every day to go to school. Some days I walked and some days I drove over the river probably making several thousand crossings over the years. Every day I saw the river and every day I saw the DeSoto (Highway 23) bridge - also known as the Division Street Bridge. It's a large bridge - two lanes going west and two lanes going east. I usually crossed the river on the St. Germain bridge and as a pedestrian on the southern sidewalk, naturally I would look to my left up the river toward the DeSoto bridge. I never thought much about it. Yesterday, I crossed on the St. Germain bridge again and saw that the DeSoto bridge is gone. Holy Crap! I was surprised at the stunning difference in the appearance of the river valley. I could see the road at either end but nothing was connecting. Nothing protruded from the water. As a passenger in a car traveling along St. Germain, I had only a few seconds to observe but I was as startled as I would be if the water were pink instead of blue. I don't think I would have recognized the city as being St. Cloud if I had seen this scene in a photo. We have much to be grateful for in this country including our road and highway system. In this harsh climate, we have flat, straight, virtually smooth roads going in all directions. If there is a curve ahead, we expect to see a warning sign. If there is a pothole, we complain and somebody fills it in. We expect the shoulders to be level with the road or if not, we expect a warning sign about that too. Signs tell us when it is safe or unsafe to pass. We expect to be able to go in all four directions and diagonally on a smooth road of asphalt or cement. And if it's snowing, we expect the roads to be cleared of snow and ice. The surface of the road is angled so the moisture drains off quickly. Roadside trees, grasses, and weeds are mowed down so we can sail along at 55 mph without having our vision obstructed by nature. I work with a man from Africa and he said the most astonishing thing about the United States when he arrived were the roads. I believe him. We shouldn't take our roads and bridges for granted.