Every time we went from our house over to the log cabin, we had to go down the steps to the lower driveway level and then up some more steps to the log cabin. Just doing that would wear a person out. Something had to be done. I thought long and hard about the problem.

If a bridge were built across the ravine behind our house, a walkway could be dug out of the ridge side over to the log cabin. I could see it in my mind, but could it be done? I took the 25-foot tape and measured the width of the ravine. Glory be! A 12-foot-long 2X12 would fit across the opening, if I laid up a concrete block base at either end.

Somewhere I have a drawing I did to determine the lumber and blocks needed to do the project. I would double the 2X12s on the outside edge and use one-inch planking for the top walkway. First of all, I had to lay the two block approaches, I was careful to keep the width even for the 2X12s. I bought the needed materials at Ace Hardware in Maynardville.

Where was my husband while all of this was going on? Sitting out there in a chair with a blanket over his lap laughing his head off at my optimistic stupidity. "You don't know what you are doing!" he would call out. "It won't work!" he would laugh. He would sit out there and taunt me as I laid the blocks. What he didn't realize was that his laughing and sneering only encouraged me to complete the job. I knew it would work. I would show him.

I knew the block approaches were not the only thing I needed. When water rushed down the ridge during a heavy storm, it would hit the basement wall and leak through into the basement. I would fix that problem at the same time. Laying up a curved retaining wall from the bridge to the back corner of the house would direct water away from the house and through the channel between the house and the block retaining wall. It was curved to direct the water flow away from the house. Yes, all the while I was doing this, he sat there laughing at me. No matter. I just continued laying block.

I let the blocks cure for a couple of weeks before building the bridge. It came together just as I had planned. I built a railing on the up-ridge side. It would hold flower boxes as well as preventing someone falling off the bridge. The bridge was not wide enough to drive a car across, but you could easily drive a lawnmower across it.

I built the bridge in August 1994. That is a long time back from the present 2024. It is as sturdy now as it was then. That back pathway has been a blessing for Anne and me. We have wheelbarrowed many a heavy load across the bridge and down that back pathway to the log cabin. It wasn't a dumb idea, not at all.