Coyote's Bridge

My garden now has a small cedar bridge crossing a rock creekbed. It's not much, but it carries me safely across the perilous rocky swale and delivers me to the other side.

Ten years ago in my old garden I put in a similar bridge across a creekbed I had built, and I always loved it. It was just one of those things that pleased me every time I saw it and it functioned to get me from the yard out into the meadow beyond. Oddly, the resident coyote who patrolled the meadow around us started using my little bridge too. 

I know because he left me a messy present right on the bridge almost every week. I guess he was marking territory. This bridge was his.

Here in my Santa Fe garden there is a spot where I have to cross over rough rocks to get to the rain barrel. That little path called for a bridge like my old one to make it easier to navigate. 

So I ordered a similar cedar bridge. It's a kit of pre-cut pieces that you assemble and it's easy to put together. It's 4 feet long, just enough to span a narrow path. This one isn't as nice as the first cedar bridge I had, but it's adequate.

The problem is that the creekbed curves away to skirt the juniper just where I wanted to place the bridge. The bridge can't span directly across the rocks, it has to follow the path at an angle. Awkward.

But engineering prevailed, and after Woodworker Jim assembled the kit, we placed it as best we could.

The sun will quickly fade the cedar to silver gray and it will blend into the gray rocks. The plants will green up and soften the look. I can play with the rocks at the corners a bit to make it look more settled into the bank, although it still crosses awkwardly.

But I like it. And it's sturdy -- I like trotting firmly across to get to the rain barrel or to the back of the garden. Jim will appreciate it when he needs to get to the windows to wash them or put up screens. No more twisted ankles walking over uneven rocks.

I don't think a New Mexico coyote will find this bridge very useful for patrolling territory. It's quite close to the house, and only leads to the rain barrel. But the pesky rabbit likes to hide in the nearby juniper at times, so I'll be checking to see if coyote scat starts appearing on this new bridge.