Friday, July 25, 2008

The Bridges Of Madison County - Part 1

No.This isn`t a post about the movie. Nor about the book. This is the story of our visit to the covered bridges of Madison County.
Yes, The G and I drove down 300 miles to Des Moines and from there, to the small village of Winterset,Iowa to create what will remain one of the most special memories we`ll ever have in our togetherness..
It was an overwhelming experience. Just as I had imagined it would be. Unpaved country roads stretching for miles into the horizon, lined by electric poles. Endless rambling of pastures. Cows grazing peacefully. Slow,sensual rhythm of the wind-mills,waltzing along with the untouched wind, unmindful to the passage of time. No one and nothing around. Absolutely nothing for miles except green grass, grey overcast skies and the two of us.
We took to the road, in what will probably remain the most special journey of our lives - in search of something undefined yet so clear.To explore the lonely existence of an Italian war bride; to search for any remaining vestige of the passions that stirred in her soul briefly and with such power; as also to search for everyday struggles of love, hope, disappointment and loneliness here in the middle of no-where . We went there looking for Francesca Johnson and everything that she once stood up for.
We ended up finding ourselves. Truly.
As we drove back into the sunset, there was only this feeling of intense relief. Relief that we had not passed by each other 'like two pieces of cosmic dust'. Relief that The G and I, drifting along the meandering flow of life, had finally managed to find each other.

This one`s for you, My Friend. Thank you for the fabulous surprise trip!

P.S - Posting images on blogspot sucks big time! :-(( I`ve posted a few in the next post. Most are of Winterset,IA. I`ve posted pics of The Hogback and The Roseman Bridge only, although there are 6 covered bridges remaining out of the original 19. There`s The G in one of the bridges and Me in the other(waving over my head or something!).. The last one is from inside the car - driving back home.

4 comments:

surbhi said...

sounds absolutely lovely!
where is the second part??

Anonymous said...

You lucky lucky thing! Loved your write up! we saw a few closed bridges in Indiana - but really nothing like the real thing:)

Anonymous said...

NC: Its a must-see really! When you visit me at Minneapolis, we can drive down there. A bloggers meet at the Bridges, wut say?? :-))

Jhunjhun : you read my blog??!! :-))))) And yeah, it was really nice. Shall email you the pics - me and The G on the bridge!!Tried posing like Francesca - only The G wudnt hear any of it. Was too embarrassed!! :-))

surbhi said...

Sounds super cool!!