Description

This scene is a study of contrasts: the deep snow beside open rushing water, the sun warming the barren trees against a cool blue sky, and the reflected light and cast shadows hint to all that slumbers hidden beneath its snowy winter blanket.

On a sunny morning after a snowstorm last winter, I hit the road to pick up 2 custom framed pieces over in Keene, NH. As we so often do these days, I plugged the address into Google maps, and was surprised when it showed a much quicker route I hadn’t considered. I was game, so off I went.

Am so glad I did! Just off of Route 9 this quaint spot & its historical marker caught my eye. I pulled in and stopped, hating to disturb the pristine snow with my tire tracks. I read the sign how the bridge had been built in 1852 and was built with dry masonry, as in all precision cut stones with no mortar.

170 years later, while no longer used for vehicle traffic, the water of the North Branch River still rushes between twin arches. On a humorous sidenote, in my research on this bridge, when it was being built, the good people of Stoddard felt the twin arched design was a needless extravagance, and promptly voted out all three alderman tasked in commissioning the design. While both aldermen & town folk are long gone, by force of gravity, their folly still stands strong.