Rude bridge, yes. Flood - not so much

I have made it my custom to post some small bit of commentary every 19th of April, marking the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. I've told the story of the "Concord Fight" several times now, occasionally quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson's famous "Concord Hymn":

BY the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

Today, on this two hundred thirty-seventh anniversary of the "shot heard 'round the world", the latest incarnation of the Old North Bridge still spans the Concord River - but there's not much in the way of flood for it to arch. We had abnormally low snowfall last winter and have had an exceptionally warm and dry spring. This keeps the rivers in their banks, but has made for a lot more brush fires than usual.