Chapel, Tower, Bridge

Some things do not change much.
Tanya on My Bridge at Mill Creek Resort

I have heard that every man should build three things before he dies: a chapel, a tower and a bridge.

I am happy to report that I have accomplished those three things.

"My" chapel: a one-seat meditation chapel half-way up the hillside garden at my parents little A-frame house between Ventura and Ojai, California. (You had to walk through the duck yard to get there and don't forget to close the gate.)

I decorated it with a goldfish pond--a tile mural featuring the New Mexico ZIA symbol made by my mother-- and a memorial to "DUKE" carved into a small granite stone with a candlestick attached. (Duke was the departed brother of a friend of mine.) The roof was an old oak tree.

I believe the entire scene-- parents, chapel, garden, oak tree and ducks are all gone now. (What do you expect in Southern California?)


"My" tower: the top tower at the Lassen Ski lift.

I helped build it and put a ceremonial medal under its concrete block foundation. It was made of steel and I really did think it would outlast me.

Nope.

There were a few dry years without sufficient snow and the whole ski lift--towers, machinery and all-- was removed and sold somewhere back east where it could make somebody some money.


"My" bridge: is no Golden Gate--but it IS a bridge and though I did not build it from scratch, I DID restore it and make it usable for a few more years when it was falling down.

And it is still there!

It is a footbridge across a brook behind the rental cabins at Mill Creek Resort and when you get there think of me when you walk (or dance) across.

My chapel. My tower. My bridge.

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