“A bank robber gets his old gang back together to organize a daring new heist.” (IMDB.com)
Photo by Maire Kelly
So what has a 1974 film starring Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, and George Kennedy have to do with walking the bridge I hear you ask? Well, nothing actually, it’s just the way my mind works and whilst ruminating on what to say about the May BridgeWalk this film title crossed my mind as I recalled the cracks of lightning and the claps of thunder which accompanied our event this month. There is also the reference to “a gang” aka band of enthusiastic BridgeWalkers and “Lightfoot” which signifies to me the feeling of urgency to get over the bridge and finished without being hit by a “Thunderbolt”.
Like I said earlier – it’s just the way my mind works.
Is there also a hint of the Stockholm syndrome at work here:
In psychology, Stockholm Syndrome is an apparently paradoxical psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and have positive feelings towards their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them. (Wikipedia.org)
And what do I have in mind here? Well although I have had expressions of support at previous events and there is a regular band of BridgeWalkers who support the event, there was a noticeable excitement and camaraderie surrounding the aftermath of our exciting adventure this month. As has been commented on the Facebook page:
“we can literally say, we walked and survived the walk”
Photo by Marc A Carter
First timers were exhilarated and determined to come back next month bringing friends with them to experience the walk (minus the thunderstorm!) Thus my reference to Stockholm Syndrome – walkers who experienced the wrath of nature whilst on the bridge now have “positive feelings towards” the bridge. Also when everyone arrived back at Heritage Park, soaking wet, many folks stayed and exchanged bridge walking stories with their fellow walkers whilst enjoying the music of Barbara and David Brown and brunch by Desiree’s Restaurant.
Here is a video taken at the height of the storm.
Despite the weather problems it was a fun family event and many of us are looking forward to June 3rd and the next event.
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