On the Graffiti Beat

I did an earlier post on the Poole's Mill bridge in a natural park about a mile from my house back home. It is a very interesting place. The bridge itself is covered with graffiti. Many may not consider it graffiti in the traditional sense of the term since the park itself isn't very well watched and no one really cares. As well, most of the graffiti is words, phrases and expressions, with a few drawings thrown in. I went there this weekend, and unfortunately my camera crapped out on me so I do not have any pictures (There may be some on google images, although I could not find any good ones of the art inside the bridge). However, I can tell you all about it. I've been going to this little hole in the side of Earth park since I could barely toddle. I've swam in the still-water section, slid down the natural water slides made at the shoals and even gotten eaten by the river a couple of times. The inside of that bridge, which almost every local person has seen at least once, details the last several decades of history of the people coming there. It has thousands of names, love promises, phrases, dates and other historical memories. I can walk through the bridge and point out many people that I went to elementary school with. I can even point out a few of their mothers and fathers names on it. My own father taught me how to dive out of the bridge into the water hole, which is only about 5 feet deep. With the bridge 15 feet in the air, of course this likely wasn't the best plan. But I'm trying to illustrate everyone's great memories of the place as it has grown throughout the last few generations. As I said, I wish I had pictures, but I can only tell you that if you'ree ever near Ducktown in Forsyth county to ask a local where Poole's Mill is. They'll know what you're talking about, and then you can see it for yourself. It's absolutely beautiful.