construction and historical significance.

there has been a lot of construction going on around here lately, 

and no it's not me making valentines in the craft room!

this fall we were notified that our bridge would be closing for repairs this winter, 

and construction officially began last week.

 (this is a view of the bridge this time last year before we moved in.)

billy and i had mixed emotions when we found out about this construction.  

we use the edges mill bridge every day to get everywhere we go, and closing it forces us to go out our street the other direction... kind of a roundabout way.  

switching up our daily travel routine is just one of the changes we have to get used to.  

our entire road is closed except for local traffic... complete with huge "road closed" signs that make us feel like we live in the middle of a construction zone:

and speaking of construction zone... we really do live right in the middle of one.  

the bridge is literally in our front yard.  

it's not so pretty to look out the window and see hard hats, pick up trucks, and huge bulldozers.  

it's not so quiet either.  

bridge construction is loud, and our windows are old.

obviously, the first thought that came to our minds was: crap.  

we're getting ready to bring home an infant and a crew is knocking down a stone bridge a hundred feet from his bedroom window!  

how exactly are nap times going to pan out for us?

but, we're trying to be optimistic, so here are a list of the positive aspects of the bridge construction:

-we feel really lucky that we live in a county that actually cares about restoring the historical integrity of our very old bridge, and it's not just being torn down and replaced with cheap concrete and metal. 

the bridge is being reinforced from the inside so that the stone exterior can remain as visually appealing as it is today. 

-it's kind of nice having no through traffic on our road right now.  

the construction is supposed to go on until august, which gives me the whole summer to get my figure back running on our street.  it was a little sketchy running on our road before because there's no shoulder and there was a decent amount of traffic.  it will be nice to have a quiet street to jog on safely with the little guy.

-we're grateful that they started construction now and not three months from now.  

we're hoping that since the noise will be "the norm" for baby murphy from day one that he'll be able to adjust to it really easily, instead of living in a quiet house for the first couple of months and then having bridge construction rock his world.

-the crew is really really nice.  billy worked from home on monday so that he could meet with the project manager.  he gave us his home and cell phone number and has been very accommodating.  they've also been really great about bringing tucker home for us... that's right tucker.  who seems to think that bridge construction is the equivalent of christmas morning and has taken to jumping the fence to go hang out with the workers.  we would just be heartbroken if he got flattened by a bulldozer.
(sarcasm?)

so that's pretty much it for the bridge construction update.

but in other semi-related news, the historical society contacted us and wants to put a historical plaque on our property:

 

it will read "blacksmith's shop circa 18 something or other" officially.

just kidding, i kinda forget what it says exactly. but it's nice.

we did some research to make sure that having a historical plaque wouldn't limit any changes we could make on the property, and now that we feel comfortable,

i went ahead and gave them the go ahead this week.

i'm looking forward to a few months from now when the bridge work will be completed and our pretty historical sign will be up for all to see!

but in the meantime, if you come up to visit, you might wanna bring some earplugs!

bridge construction starts every day at 6:30 am! :)