The Ides Of December

While on an outing to capture early winter sunset panoramas from the Old Bynum Bridge, I stop and take a trip down memory lane. Echoes of purposeful footfalls by workers headed to the Odell cotton mill and farmers rumbling grain wagons to the riverside grist mill linger. The captivating rush of the Haw River below soothes the din of the hustle and bustle. A timeworn cotton mill race endures as a slowly moving reflecting pool. Defiant albeit worse for wear the gray lady stands lost in dreams of glory days.

Built in 1922 to replace a covered wooden bridge inadequate for automobile traffic, her 800-foot span stands a lane and a half wide by modern standards. In her day the bridge is a major north-south connector in the Piedmont Plateau area of North Carolina. Since 1999 the bridge serves foot traffic across the rock-strewn waters of the Haw.

Weather and the Haw River take their physical toll over 93 years. But of late the unthinking onslaught of graffiti defiles her personality. An old-timer walking the bridge stops to chat. His heart aches over the willful disregard of respect for the aged gray lady.

© Ilija Lukić 2015

The Ides Of December 

The Yin And The Yang 

Last Gasp Of Autumn

Ghosts Of Bynum

(Abandoned post office and general store) 

First Day Of Winter