A Bridge Too Far

As usual, two days without posting means I'd left the building - or at least, the city - and spent some time decamped to the country, not my natural habitat.

Cue "Green Acres" theme song as in, "I get allergic smelling hay" (and mildew and dust and grass and...).

But fortunately it also means I finally got to walk the High Bridge Trail, a former railroad path in Farmville that stretches across the anemic-looking Appomattox River, but only after we walked three miles from the Rice Depot to get to the bridge.

Along the way, signs made it clear who trumped whom. Let me sum it up for you: horses trump everyone, basically.

Yea, sure, bicyclists had to yield to pedestrians, too, but basically, if it walks on four legs, get out of its way. Just before the bridge was a dismount station - wooden steps and platform- to allow riders to climb down with dignity. Or pose suggestively for the camera, depending on your predilections.

I only wish we'd seen a horse or two along the trail. God knows we saw enough horse poop on the ground.

The view from the bridge was impressively panoramic and with benches and a breeze, worth stopping to admire after a walk in that afforded far too little shade. Next time, the plan is to take bikes and a picnic lunch to enjoy 125 feet above the water.

The ultimate al fresco, no?

After that kind of sweating, it was time for outdoor showers under the bluest of skies before guests arrived for a birthday celebration that had been neither planned nor thought through. In other words, no birthday cake awaited us and no party games had been procured.

My solution was to pull out the croquet mallets, balls and wickets and invite the celebrants to set aside their wine glasses for a bit of recreating. Let the record show, some people were good enough players one-handed to be able to smack balls and get loopier simultaneously.

In honor of the birthday boy, the youngest in attendance, we took turns in order of age, meaning almost everyone got to play before me. My athletic competitive spirit being all but non-existent, I was just fine with that.

And while I might have game suggestions, I certainly wasn't going to bake a cake on a warm day (even a birthday), although I did come up with a pretty decent birthday dessert (if I do say so myself) on the spot: fudge brownie ice cream with crushed Fritos and a wedge of dark chocolate candy.

Fattening, easy and low-brow. What self-respecting country-dweller wouldn't dig in?

This city girl liked it just fine, even among land spreading out so far and wide. Enjoying myself so far out in the sticks all depends on the quality of the company.