Where I live there are lots of rivers. Also lots of people. And cars. All of which adds up to a host of people climbing into a multitude of cars to cross a rabble of rivers.

Cars being what they are, and rivers being what they are, this has resulted in the blossoming of a battalion of bridges. Draw bridges, suspension bridges, covered bridges, foot bridges, Lloyd Bridges. Toll bridges (some charge you to get on - they must be really proud; some charge you to get off - they may know something you don't, but wish you did), bridges over troubled waters, bridges over muddy waters, bridges over Ethel Waters, bridges over polluted waters, bridges over calm water, deep water, shallow water, sweet water, blue water, white water, brown water, brackish water, running water, stagnant water, no water.

Bridges which go up, bridges which go down, bridges which go nowhere in particular but look really nice.

Bridges which climb, bridges which soar, bridges which leap and span, bridges which shoot straight across, bridges which go bump in the night.

Bridges with towers and cables, bridges with roofs, bridges with footpaths and railroad tracks. Steel bridges, wood bridges, concrete bridges, girder bridges, arch bridges, cantilever bridges, truss bridges, floating bridges, swinging bridges.

Bridges named after politicians, bridges named after historical figures, bridges named after geographical features, bridges named for the way they look, the water they cross, the road they support and bridges with no name at all.

Bridges take you above the trouble: over rivers, lakes, railroads, highways, ravines, canyons, gorges, waterfalls, streams, rivulets, creeks, cracks, ditches, highway signs, junkyards, rail yards, front yards, back yards.

Bridges give you a new perspective. A bridge can put the world at your feet, can show you how it all fits together. It's a press box view, not a sideline shot. What's lost in detail is made up in context.

Bridges connect states, nations, counties, townships, cities, boroughs; sometimes they just hold an area together, connecting it with itself: two sides of a river, two sides of a city, two sides of the tracks.

A bridge can take you where you've never been. It can be your way to a place you've always wanted to go, even if you weren't quite sure just where that was. It can take you over waters which might have overwhelmed you, over trains which may have passed you by, over roads you want to leave behind. Or a bridge can bring you home.

People are a lot like bridges, some more obviously so than others. Loving parents, special teachers and best friends all help us grow, help connect us with something more than ourselves. They take us places we've never been while keeping us safe in the security of their strength and support.

Mail carriers and telephone operators are bridges upon whom we rely almost every day, uniting us with the world beyond our home, neighborhood and workplace.

Most of us depend on grocers for our food, power companies to cool/warm/operate our homes, and health care workers to bring us back to health when we're ill.

People, like bridges, come in all shapes, colors and sizes. Some are towers of strength, dramatically lifting us above the humdrum of daily routines to get a glimpse of a larger world. Some are simple and unassuming, easing our way from one step to the next virtually without notice.

Take the computer I'm using to write this. I don't know who built it, much less who designed it. I don't know who packaged it or handled its shipping to me, or who wrote up the invoice, or who processed the check I offered in payment. I don't know who came up with the concept of checks, much less the concept of computers. But all of them were bridges from me to you.

Life is a process of crossing bridges. I don't think we can ever be entirely sure just where a bridge will lead us. Oh, a map indicates a given bridge crosses such-and-such a river, connecting this place with the one over there. But that's just geography. It doesn't tell you about the view from the bridge, or the excitement of a new world ahead, or the memories of what you've left behind.

We are, each of us, bridges to the infinite for people we may never know, may never meet - not just in our work lives, in our careers and professions, but in our day-to-day existence, in the ways we lead our lives. Buying groceries, checking out a library book and driving a car in traffic give us as many opportunities to make connections with other people as anything we do at work. A momentary kindness or courtesy may span deeper gulfs than we'll ever realize.

And maybe, just maybe, having reached across the gap to another child of this universe, we'll find ourselves crossing into a new and wonderful adventure. Perhaps we'll discover magic we've never known, visions we've never seen, songs we've never heard. Or it could be we'll find at last the bridge that takes us home.

When you come to that bridge, cross it.