First of all Merry Christmas, happy holidays and happy new year to all.

Next, if you have picked up the paper in time and are looking for an on island Christmas Eve service, you have two choices: the Southport United Methodist Church service at 5 p.m. and All Saints by-the-Sea summer chapel service at 10 p.m.

The All Saints service is dependent on reasonable weather so that folks can walk down the path safely. Heavy ice or snow will probably cause cancellation. Call 207-633-0672 for information. Also please note the chapel will not be heated during the service, only warmed up a bit prior to service time, so dress warmly.

Note the Island Store and post office hours during the two holiday weeks. The store will be open Monday and Tuesday from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. On Wednesday from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. Christmas Day and New Year’s Day (Thursdays) the store will be closed. Friday through Sunday the store will be open from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. The post office lobby is always open so you can get your box mail. The window will be open on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve from 8 a.m. until noon.

The following story is only partly serious, about 30 percent, and mostly tongue in cheek, but recently crossing the Southport Bridge it has rattled around in my mind, so I will share it.

While living in Princeton, I audited a course designed for engineering and humanities students, taught by David Billington, an expert on bridges. One of his illustrations of bridge design concerned the George Washington Bridge leading into New York City. Up to that time bridges had been designed to carry maximum weight, defined as tractor trailer trucks lined up end to end across the span. Some bright bridge architect realized such an occurrence would be very rare. Therefore bridge costs could be reduced, and bridge spans designed to look much more graceful if lessor criteria were the norm. Thus the George Washington Bridge was built to lessor weight specifications.

As the construction of our new water line edges toward the Southport Bridge, traffic from the Southport side is often stopped on the bridge, causing me to glance around to see how many of us are trucks and if they are dump trucks loaded with heavy debris, remembering Professor Billington’s punch line in his George Washington Bridge example: “However, if you are approaching the George Washington Bridge and see tractor trailer trucks lining the span end to end, find another route.”

Then I remember that our Southport Bridge was strengthened last October, so all will be well, I am sure, mostly.