It's a blessing to me.
It's a curse to me.
It's a blessing because it drains the land, making it more useful for farming and living. It's a blessing because it's dike is a levee, protecting us from the floodwaters of the Alligator River, and sparing us from having to keep flood insurance on our dwelling.
It's a curse because it bisects my entire farm ... nearly half-a-mile of 36 feet wide, five feet (8 or nine when it's flooded) deep canal ... with a sticky, mucky bottom up to your knees. Plenty of cottonmouth moccasins around it, even this time of year. It's very difficult to cross without going under, and going under is dangerous.
It's a curse because it's protected from further development, and there has been no bridge across it on my property as long as I've lived here. It's always been a real thorn in my side ... I've had to go half-a-mile away to get across when I want to get to my woods on the other side, which adjoins Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.
Last year, a bear hunter I was hosting fell in while wading the canal in December ... rifle, backpack, waders and all ... it's a good thing he didn't get stuck in the muck bottom and drown.
It was the final straw.
Bear season opens Monday.
I was determined to bridge the canal.
And I did:
4 - 2" X 12" X 12'
20 - 2" X 4" X 8'
1 - Steel T-post
1- Old tow rope
4 hours in water up to my chin with muck up to my knees, pounding posts into the bottom with a sledge, and installing the treadway.
5 hours building and installing the "chicken board" stairs up the 14' levee.
Sweet satisfaction:
Bear tracks on the chicken board, the night after construction. So much for the scent-control theorists, huh?
It's not pretty, but it's functional, and it has a certain rustic charm.
Believe you me ... it was no mean feat to get that done all by myself!
Boys, when I walked across that bridge, I felt like Julius Caesar crossing the Rhine!
