The Body Politic

Sensible discourse on issues of the day since 2003

Kimberly Krautter

Kimberly Krautter
Location
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Birthday
October 26
Bio
Southern fried iconoclast and Atlanta native Kimberly Krautter is The Anti-Coulter. She blogs about the intersection of public communications and public policy with a side order of musings on pop culture. For 22 years, Ms. Krautter has been a strategic communications consultant to Fortune 500 and emerging industry companies as well as a freelance journalist published in business magazines in the U.S., U.K. and France. Her social commentary has been featured in the Atlanta Journal Constitution with light-hearted series featured in Atlanta magazine and others. A popular early blogger, "The Body Politic" was originally hosted on Typepad and has now migrated to Open Salon. Known to have the swiftest soapbox in the South and for being staunchly anti-wing nut, Ms. Krautter believes, "Liberal is not a four-letter word, for that matter neither is Conservative, and solutions are found in the Sensible Center where people are eager to speak with each other instead of just being heard." She is currently authoring a major journalistic work titled "Foreclosure on the Fourth Estate: How spin-fluence and info-tainment killed the American newspaper." Follow her on Twitter @kimbrlykrautter [note: there is no "e" in the "kimbrly" portion of the Twitter handle.]

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Salon.com
JULY 13, 2009 1:05PM

The Devil's Bridge - Serchio Valley in Tuscany

Rate: 4 Flag

This time last year I was working on a client's book while visiting her in Tuscany. It didn't suck.

Ponte Madelena  

Legend of Devil's Bridge
The villagers on each side of the Serchio River needed a bridge. They raised money and hired a builder who promised to have the bridge built in time for the harvest.  As the deadline drew near, he was woefully behind on the project. So, he made a pact with the Devil who demanded the soul of the first one to cross the bridge.
Indeed the builder finished on time for harvest, and villagers on both sides joyfully awarded the builder the honor of being the first to cross his creation. Remembering his deal with the Devil, the builder was distraught. A wise old woman asked him why he hesitated, and he confessed his conundrum. She told the builder not to worry, slapped a pig on the behind and sent it scurrying across.
The Devil, realizing he was duped, threw himself over the bridge, disappearing from the Serchio Valley forever.
==============
P.S. I find it endlessly fascinating that the Ponte Maddelena (a bridge named for Mary Magdalen) is also named "The Devil's Bridge," no matter how sweet the story...

 

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What a fabulous photo and anecdote, thank you!
psychomama
July 13, 2009 01:58 PM
What a lovely photo! There's a similar story about a dog and a bridge and the devil--it's Irish, maybe Welsh?

Aren't there some classicists/folklorists around who can help us out with the origin?

There's also one stone at the Avebury stone circle in which, if you sit too long, the devil will take you. Then of course there's "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" . . . yes I'm a literary scholar, why would you ask?

Thanks for sharing and rated!
Britomart
July 13, 2009 06:05 PM