I’ve tried to start this post multiple times now, the blinking cursor asking me what it is exactly that I want to say. I haven’t figured it out still, which might mean the words aren’t quite ready to be committed to paper, so to speak. I wanted to use this image as the starting point. It would be my entry in the “bridges” photo challenge and the beginning of a story. But I don’t know the end of the story yet, or even at what stage of the story we’re in. Is it the middle? Or are we still setting the scene waiting for the plot to thicken?

I have hopes that this bridge is leading somewhere. That it hasn’t been burned down to ashes just yet.

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Since I’m not quite ready to cross this first bridge, I have a different photo submission on this theme, one that I don’t have so much internal conflict over. I’ve tried to challenge myself recently: to be positive, to try to stay above the fray, and to concentrate instead on creative pursuits. I write about this often but must confess that much of the time it’s much easier to talk about it (or write about it) than to actually do it.

I’ve said for weeks now that I need to get up early one day and head down to the river and try to capture a sunrise shot over the Rappahannock, maybe from the Chatham Bridge (the furthest bridge in the second picture below). Some days I even wake up and think to myself: “Get up and go” but just can’t make myself. Today I got up. I brushed my teeth and pulled on some clothes. Didn’t brush my hair — that would have taken too long — and grabbed keys, phone, and my camera and left. I was afraid I was too late. The sun had been up for a few minutes already, and I wasn’t even sure where my best vantage point would be. Turns out I should have headed to the city dock instead of heading to the bridge first. Hard to shoot the bridge while you’re standing on it, but I thought I could shoot in the other direction, toward the railroad trestle. My photos from the bridge aren’t great, but I kind of like a couple of the other ones. And while there aren’t bridges in all of these shots, I’m sharing them with you here anyway. Because maybe they represent a different kind of bridge; one that will help me cross back into the creative world.

And I even used one of this morning’s shots for a Daily Prompt post – bonus!