In Between

I recently had quite a crash on my mountain bike. A slippery bridge after some rain, a branch that caused a slight weight change as I ducked - and down I went. Hard. Into the rails with my arm, ribs, and head. I was with a good friend who came back and sat with me as I worked to get my bearings. I tried getting up and realized I needed some more time to just sit on that bridge. With my friend. Eventually we made it out of the woods, but not before we had a wonderful talk about some changes we were both going through in our lives.
It's been a week or so now and sparkling moments of that conversation keep coming back to me. This piece is a compilation of some of the gems that came from sitting on a bridge after a tumble.

In Between

A bridge goes from one side
to another.
From here to there.
Yet, when you get there,
it’s actually a new here
and onward you go.
I’ve been thinking lately
that the spans of bridges actually
 have something to teach.
Marvels of engineering,
it is those spans where
the true magic resides
as they miraculously
bear the load.
I think it wise to
pause on a bridge
every so often,
take a look at what’s going on
below, within, above.
Whether a bridge
crosses some muck
on a woodsy trail,
carries you across
flowing waters,
 takes you over a path
that leads somewhere else,
there’s something soothing about
 suspending in the moments
of in between
and being
right where you are.

Sarah Carlson

July 10, 2020