The Minneapolis skyline recedes from the rear-view mirror of my Mercury as I ascend the Hiawatha Lake Street Bridge. I like this bridge. Its no-nonsense, concrete construction is function before form. Yet the compound curve of its gentle arch over Lake Street topped off with a series of double-headed street lamps graces an otherwise stark Hiawatha Avenue. The lamps seen from speeding cars at night are a blur of light trails scribing the bridge's form.
Yet my thoughts turn to the landscape ahead as I crest the bridge on this grey Minnesota day. A zone of light industry, commercial, and old grain elevators crowd Hiawatha on the left, while houses in the Corcoran neighborhood peak out from behind an earthen berm on the right. Hiawatha Avenue leads my eye towards the horizon. I am struck by the sight in the distant sky of passenger jets landing and taking off at the Minneapolis Airport. I imagine the people and ideas coming and going with each of these planes. There is a sense of the future in the making.
Posted by Streetwalker at December 27, 2003 11:19 AM