Columbus is ranked one of the cloudiest cities in the US. This usually does not bother me though. Where I grew up in Turkey, months would go by in the summertime without a cloud in sight. When one finally did show up, I would watch it glide across the sky and examine it as it changed and morphed into something new. Nonetheless, it's hard to beat a sunny day after a week of dismal skies.
Columbus also has a great metro parks system. I love living in the city, but I can tell when I have not spent enough time outside in nature. It's always nice knowing that no matter where you are in the city, you're probably not more than 20 minutes away from a park, trail, or river.
Yesterday, despite the clouds, the sun was insistent on shinning and begging me to go outside. This motivation led me to a metro park that I had not yet visited in an area of the city that I usually do not go. After living here for 7 years, it was exciting to find a new place and have that feeling of discovery.
The trail I chose led through the woods overlooking the Scioto River, then down to the overflowing banks. The trail kept getting muddier and I was about to turn back, when I saw this bridge through the trees. It looked so out of place hovering over the flooded stream surrounded by tree trunks so I stopped caring about the mud on my shoes and pushed on to check it out. Upon closer inspection and after a few hops for good measure, it was what you would expect, a tiny suspension bridge. I definitely will be going back when it's drier to further explore this area.