Bridge Over Trouble

For the shortest month of the year, February always gets me in a funk right smack in the middle of it. Maybe it's the tax preparation, or it's the cluster of birthdays of all the wackiest women I know. Personally, I blame Valentine's day. The idea of hearts and chocolate just makes me a little bi-polar, ya know?

So, even if this only suits myself - I am dedicating this post to encouragement. While perfection and beauty may get all the attention, flaw and functionality are the crucial balance without which love would cease to exist.

Yeah, I'm not sure how that works either but it sounds good, don't it?

It started with the second grader's Social Studies project: two full written pages and a mini-model on a New York City landmark. Zuki was assigned the Manhattan Bridge. Of all the useless landmarks in this town, the Manhattan Bridge was my least favorite. If I had a choice, I would've picked "Pete's Tavern" in Gramercy Park - no doubt I'd do a lot of hands on research there. I'm sure many New Yorkers feel the same way. It's an unimpressive bridge. Not to mention shoddy. But Manhattan Bridge is what we're stuck with.

The research was grueling because the resources were profoundly limited. I resorted to reading a blog, albeit a rather insightful one, which titled the post, "Manhattan Bridge: New York's Dysfunctional Classic". Like the ugly middle sister, standing in the shadow of our beloved Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge to this day is under appreciated and largely ignored. It was almost scrapped entirely but went under reconstruction instead - for nearly two decades. Today, it stands dutifully - silencing the doubters and receiving nothing more than a mention in a footnote.

In a way, I can identify with that. The headache we're experiencing right now with Zuki's schooling is a strange reflection of its plight. Seriously, it's enough to make me want to go there to jump off of it. Instead, we took a field trip to the Canal Street entrance to pay our respects. We took pictures by the stone archway - the bridge's only notable feature and I promised to appreciate it more. In my head, I thanked the Manhattan Bridge for showing me the beauty of surviving those troubles and eventually becoming the subject of a seven year old's school project.

I was sure my husband was appreciating the same new found respect when he uncharacteristically asked to borrow the camera.

Then he said, "I want to take pictures of that statue's tits."

Honestly. Can't take him anywhere.

Sweet Tits is on the bottom left

Zuki's attempt at photography