A Respite from the Cold

Brrrrrr.........it sure is nippy out there!  Funny how we live in the northeast, yet when the temperature drops below twenty, we all panic and complain as if some different weather were expected here in January!  Unfortunately I don't think we're going to see improvement anytime soon, so I'm here tonight to bring a little warmth and sunshine right to you.  Hopefully these sunny images will distract you for a minute or two and remind you that eventually this frigid weather will end and we can once again enjoy being outside without mittens.

People who know me know I come from a long line of gardening experts and while I don't claim to have a green thumb, I do share my mom and my grandmother's love for flowers.  I'd heard about the Bridge of Flowers but until this past autumn, I hadn't been there.  We had a chance to check it out on our last visit to Historic Deerfield and although by October most of the flowers were finished blooming, there was enough left to make me want to go back.

"The Bridge of Flowers was once a trolley bridge built in 1908 by the Shelburne Falls & Colrain Street Railway. The trolley was a "social and commercial connection" to area residents at that time. The railway company, however, was unable to keep up with progress, such as the invention of the automobile, as goods began to be hauled by truck and the company eventually went bankrupt in 1927.
The Bridge became overgrown with weeds in the two years following the demise of the railway. But in 1928, someone had an idea ...Antoinette Burnham had the vision to take a community problem of a discontinued trolley bridge and turn it into a beautiful Bridge of Flowers.   According to The History and Traditions of Shelburne, Massachusetts published in 1958, the trolley bridge was an "eyesore." It was too expensive to destroy, yet it was not needed as a footbridge. It could not be destroyed partly because of expense and because it carried the water main to the Buckland side of the river. The Shelburne Falls Fire District purchased the bridge for $1,250.   

The Shelburne Falls Women’s Club sponsored this project in 1928. In April 1929, 80 loads of loam and several loads of fertilizer were put on the bridge, all by donated labor.  The Women’s Club and other organizations in town raised $1,000 in the early spring of 1929." (From their website)    

 You can check out their website (link provided at the end of this blog) to read more about the history and maintenance of this beauty, but for now just sit back and soak up the sun, colors and radiance of the last drop of summer we were lucky enough to capture during our visit and imagine how amazing it must be during peak growing season.

Pretty amazing, right?    Be sure to check out their website and if you're ever in that neck of the woods during growing season, be sure to visit.  Besides the bridge of flowers, there's some cute little shops and restaurants in Shelburne Falls too.   It's a beautiful drive and the destination won't disappoint.  Till then.......keep warm and stay tuned for more Life As I See It.

http://bridgeofflowersmass.org