Bridges

This photo stole my heart.

And this one's pretty sweet, too.

Brooklyn, 1983. I am in the 3rd grade. My social studies teacher assigns us to memorize all of the major bridges and tunnels in New York City. Our neighborhood is moments away from the Verrazano Narrows Bridge; we all know that one. I personally have been over it hundreds of times; my family owns a business in Staten Island. I also know the bridges that, once in Staten Island, will get you to New Jersey. We do a lot of driving in my family.

Our teacher assigns us to each make a poster of the five boroughs, depicting the bridges, tunnels, and major architectural and tourist attractions. I already have piles of brochures--the Statue of Liberty (the torch is under construction so we can't climb all the way up); the United Nations (Little Brother is too young to go in the museum, but at least we've looked around); the World Trade Center (my uncle jokes that he will tie a handkerchief to the television antenna of his house and we shouldn't leave the observation deck until we find it). We do a lot of urban wandering in my family.

It is the 100th anniversary of the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge. I take special care to color fireworks in magic marker above its photo. I love my markers; I love the Brooklyn Bridge.

Brooklyn, 1988. My parents announce that we are moving to Staten Island. I apply to Catholic high schools in Staten Island.

Brooklyn, 1989-1992. I commute across the Verrazano Bridge every day. I have won a scholarship to a very competitive high school, but still we haven't moved.

Staten Island, 1992. We move to Staten Island. I am accepted early decision to New York University, my first choice. I accept, but am convinced not to take out student loans to pay for housing. I decide to live at home and commute.

Staten Island 1993-1997 (college); 1997-1998 (first job); 1998-2000 (graduate school); 2000-2001 (next job). I commute across the Verrazano Bridge every day, in the other direction.

Staten Island, 9/11/2001. Bridge traffic is halted and I can't get off this damn island. Don't know where I'd go, but I don't like knowing that I can't.

Brooklyn, later 2001. My regular bus is boarded by National Guardsmen just before the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel in a "routine check" of a "suspicious person" with "suspicious baggage". I decide maybe it's time to take a break from commuting.

Verrazano Narrows, 2004. Aboard a cruise ship returning from the Caribbean, I am, for the first time*, underneath the Verrazano Bridge. I've been across this bridge thousands of times, but I've never seen it from this angle. I take many photos. For a variety of reasons, I never upload them to my desktop.

Staten Island, today. Looking at ChickyBabe's photo blog, am once again mesmerized by the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I want desperately to share the new perspective I gained of my bridge--well, one of my bridges. I search everywhere for the missing photos of the Verrazano that I just know I took; realize they are still on the camera--the camera I was using in 2004. The batteries are dead; the particular wire is missing. I can find two fresh batteries though the camera requires four, but I can't find an appropriate wire. I use the battery life to click through and look at the pictures I can't currently access. The batteries die.

There's a fresh perspective in there. I've seen it--I know.

Now I just have to get back to it. It took Sydney Harbour to remind me.

*Technically, the return voyage would have marked my second time underneath the bridge, but on the way out of New York Harbor, I was much more interested in ascertaining the size of my room's shower, and figuring out how soon I could eat dinner. Oh yeah, and scrutinizing the Cruise Director's headshot.