Erb's Mill Covered Bridge (1849). Lancaster County, PA. November 2020
Of "natsukashii" memes, libertarians, and compulsive behavior
During the Great Shutdown of 2020, my brother and I made it a point to get outside every day and take a walk. Many of those walks were in Lancaster County and some of them took us near covered bridges. I photographed many of them, but why? The Japanese have a term for feeling nostalgic, "natsukashii" - experiencing something in the present which evokes a happy memory of something past. Covered bridges for me are personally natsukashii because I remember driving to see a few of them with Mom when I was a kid. Hurricane Agnes (1972) wiped out many covered bridges in Pennsylvania and after that, Mom made it a point to pass by covered bridges if we could because "you just never know how long it might be around". For her, a covered bridge brought back her own natsukashii memories of growing up in the Depression and playing around one near her childhood home. In turn she was creating future natsukashii memories for me every time we visited one of these venerable structures.
Nostalgia is a powerful thing. All this collective natsukashii about covered bridges gave them a "meme-like" existence long before the internet. Covered bridges are the subject of countless paintings and photos. They are no longer torn down but moved to parks for public viewing pleasure. What is it about a very pragmatic-for-its-time bridge that evokes such feelings? Show most Americans a covered bridge and they will have a collective, similar response - a bygone happier era where everyone lived carefree in this kind of bucolic setting. Sociologist Erving Goffman talked about this in a theory called "Frame Analysis" where, based on specific situations, we are programmed to think and act in certain ways. Why is it that covered bridges give many of us this collective natsukashii for an age we never lived in?
Covered bridge nostalgia is also cultural. On my "Diamond Jubilee Trip" of 2021 through the Midwest, AQ (my student from Saudi who is now studying in the USA) joined me for part of the trip. I insisted we see covered bridges in Ohio and in Indiana. Being the swell guy he is, of course, AQ agreed, but the bridges did not evoke the same feelings in him as they did in me. I was surprised and disappointed. Why was he not as fascinated by these bridges as I was? Perhaps because he had not grown up with the natsukashii meme as most other Americans had? What would be his cultural meme that evoked the same feeling?
Covered bridges were built with private funds in the 19th century. In the days when "da gubmen" did not build the common infrastructure for us all to benefit from, these bridges were built by locals with money. Most bridges were adjacent to mills that were owned by the bridge builders. It made good sense - customers needed access and the mill owner provided it with a bridge. The bridges were covered because wood weathers quickly when exposed. A covered bridge's structure will last three times longer than an exposed bridge. The builders were practical and profit seeking, yet their building legacy provides enjoyment and collective nostalgia for all of us. Could such a system even exist today where we counted on the wealthy to provide us with infrastructure? I fear we are as libertarian as housecats. What relics of our time will create a natsukashii feeling for future generations?
Seeing more and more bridges became a "thing" for me. My brother is retired and he indulged me. We did have copious amounts of time in lockdown after all. The USA used to have a lot of covered bridges of which Pennsylvania has the most remaining. Lancaster County has the most of any county in Pennsylvania - 25 or so depending on how they are counted. I got up to about 17 or 18 and then stopped. After a time they appeared rather "samey". I always entertained some hope that the next bridge location would be scenic, but alas some are buried behind modern developments like the ignominy of Landis Valley Covered Bridge stuck between Park City Shopping Mall and a housing complex while others abut private property with homeowners placing signs reminding tourists that their lawns with the perfect view of the bridge are indeed "private property". Why do we have a need to collect things and experiences? Why did I at one time have this brief passion to see all the covered bridges in Lancaster? They are really not very different from each other - basically barn-like structures over a creek. I have experienced this behavior in myself before and have seen it in my friends all over the world. What is it about being human that makes us collectors of things and/or experiences?
Maybe this blog is just yet another example even if I tell myself that it also serves as a memory dump for my aging brain....