20241227

"take the tour"

still feels the most apropos with wisdom for this now of mine :)

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There's a bridge over the north fork of the Chicago River — at Kinzie maybe, or Grand or something, I forget. There's a little bridge-house on the east bank, on the right-hand side of the road as you're driving west over the water. I see myself in there, every time. :) It's a compact space, pill-shaped and oriented laterally, longitudinally, if you were looking at it from above. Wood construction, ringed with glass, the windows tall enough to feel like you have room to stretch and stretch freely. Comfortable, for me and my lil robokitty and maybe a guest. (Abe's agreed enthusiastically to my adoption of a robot cat. It's the only pet concept we've come up with that we both like.) I'm watching the river, watching the cars, minding the bridge. I am set apart, but not far removed. A ghost and its workspace, maybe. :) Me and Travis (the name leaps to mind as I write this, never before considered), and we are doing what we do. 🐈‍⬛ 🤖⻤

A seasoned map-maker is uniquely positioned to see where a bridge would be useful, and why the maintenance of a bridge is important. When a bridge has been burned, a map-maker might be the one to understand why that happened, and how we might build that lived experience into a structure that serves both sides of the water better.

I build bridges inductively, by helping one traveler across at first, and then helping the next using the footprints we left the last time. In time, the crossings become continuous, and then I rest.

I am resting. :)