November 23, 2021
Reflections, Day 46
No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to unchartered land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.”
— Helen Keller
Sometimes I sit and stare. I’m not staring AT anything, I’m just staring off into space. My wife used to wonder if I was upset about something—but she learned—I get that look when I’m working out the details of a project.
One day a friend asked me, “What’s your next project?
“I’m going to build a curved Japanese bridge.”
“What do you want to do that for?”
“A garden asked me to build one.”
He thought about that, “Do you know how to do it?”
“Not yet.”
“Well, what makes you think you can build one?”
“I didn’t say I’m thinking about building one—I said I’m going to build one.”
Santos and Lorenzo helped me. We cleaned out a place in the garage (I had measured the site carefully) and set up saw horses. We used 2x12s for the runners and for the curve we bent a piece of pvc pipe as a guide and drew a line. Then we cut the curve out with a Sawsall. I think there were four of these runners.
We measured and cut out 5/4 treated decking for the floor of the bridge and then cut the uprights out of treated 4x4s. My friend Jeff Kirk came over and helped us figure out how to do the curved hand railing.
We drilled holes that matched up exactly where they were supposed to go so that it would bolt together easily and be sturdy. It all went together just right.
One of the ladies who had watched from the top of the hill asked,
“John, where did you buy that kit?”
I smiled and said, “thank you.”
—john schulz
Whatever it is—Make it happen!
Quote suggestion by Tom Schulz
johntheplantman--Gardening 