4/6/2024

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

                  What’s your relationship to bridges? In one of my lost letters I described my childhood bouts with Gephyrophobia which included holding my breath every time we drove across a bridge. Luckily, we didn’t do it often. I still have trouble walking over a bridge, especially if the deck has open grating.

I was reminded of this on my last trip to Portland when I was squeamish walking across the Hawthorne Bridge. Luckily the Tower Bridge near my new place is short in West Sac & has a paved walkway. I plan to cross it often.

                  My family’s relationship to bridges goes back to my dad’s grandfather, Col Harry Trippe, who was awarded a distinguished service medal for engineering a bridge during the Meuse-Argonne offensive in WWI. He figured out how to erect it in hours so the troops could get their gear across the water before the bridge was bombed.

                  Do you think it’s possible that the destruction of the Key Bridge could be the best thing that ever happened to? Gov Wes Moore hasn’t said exactly that, but he’s trying to make that a reality by imagining a new, taller bridge. According to the WP, he’s taking full advantage of his media attention to convince the world that Baltimore’s problem is everyone’s problem. I was impressed that, at your event yesterday, he spoke some Spanish to convey his sympathies to the deceased workers’ families & that he phoned other govs to get their advice on handling FEMA. He’s the right guy at the right time.

                  Speaking of bridges, XJ has plans for 124 of them to connect Muse & Mandalay as part of his Belt & Road efforts in Burma. I think he’s on to something – build bridges, NOT bombs.

                  Thich Nhat Hanh says that the bridge that unites your body to your thoughts is breath. So, let’s breathe!

                  BYBS,