Thursday, April 15, 2010

Nature Wins

I'm trying to come up with something metaphorical to say about this photo.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
Don't let things slip through the cracks.
It's the little things.

Maybe I should try to come up with something original instead.

Every day the world teems with traffic, marriage, war, shopping, hardship, heartbreak, love and death. Someone is rejoicing. Someone's going to work. Someone's being born.

Then one day a crack appears and sure enough, nature takes over.

30 comments:

Bellis said...

Lovely words, Petrea. The life force is strong, and Mother Nature will eventually defeat mankind's efforts to tame her - I hope. Meanwhile, my planned flight back to Pasadena tomorrow may be defeated by another act of nature - a volcano in Iceland.

lewi14@gmail.com said...

A wonderful shot and warmly words. I'm deeply moved.

T Thompson said...

I think that title says it best.

Nature Wins. Always.

Cafe Observer said...

You can't fool Mother Nature. Or, Petrea.

Btw Pdp, I happened to be walking thru the Arcade last nite & saw your Nose you wrote bout. It appears they actually have a small food menu to use all that wine for. So, I gotta stick my nose into the Nose Wine Cellar in the next few daze. I'll tell them you sent me.

Anonymous said...

Oh, well said. Both hopeful and sad, depending on the circumstance.

Petrea Burchard said...

Play it safe, Bellis, there's no rush.

Thank you, Steffen.

Ted, I hope you're right. We're not always around to see it.

Yes, do, Cafe, thanks--keeping in mind the comments from Tuesday's post.

Petrea Burchard said...

Hi Karin. I was thinking of a friend who's in sad circumstances, and another one whose circumstances are at the opposite, gleeful end of the spectrum. I don't mean to say it doesn't matter, but that in our short terms unless we're world leaders it may matter only to us. It's up to us to make it good.

John Sandel said...

It's no fun being Jack-In-The-Green
No place to dance, no time for song.
He wears the colours of the summer soldier
Carries the green flag all the winter long.
Jack, do you never sleep?
Does the green still run deep in your heart?
Or will these changing times,
motorways, powerlines,
keep us apart?
Well, I don't think so
I saw some grass growing through the pavements today.


—Ian Anderson, 1976

Desiree said...

AS my dh would say, "Mother Nature's out to get you."

pasadenapio said...

You can't keep a good blade of grass down.

Linda Dove said...

I actually don't believe in nature. It's just culture by another name. We make it so.

Kim said...

I love the beautiful light in your shot, Petrea. It is a serene scene, like sitting there in childhood as we all did, seeing like this, but without the grown up thoughts, just experiencing the warm sun, seeing the light on the grass in the crack. Being outside in nature and having it take us over, as it did everyday in my childhood, even amidst the suburban concrete and planted yards of my SoCal neighborhood. Thanks for the transport :-).
-Kim

Vanda said...

No crack too small.

Reminds me of that "world without humans" tv show.

Petrea Burchard said...

I spent a lot of childhood time in the Kishwaukee River, imagining the lives of creatures who lived there. Kim, you took me back to that.

Vanda, I thought of that, too. I never saw the show but they had a website for it, and an article in Smithsonian or something I read. A fascinating concept.

Katie said...

Delightfully contemplative photo. On my 25-minute walk to the carpool this morning I made sure to look down (not when crossing streets though), and I was amazed how many cracks I saw in the sidewalk that were filled in the nature's grassy green grout. Thanks for reminding me look at the world in a different way!

Virginia said...

Perfectly said, as always.
V

Tash said...

P. - you gotta stop watching the evening news!

I like the photo. I love grass/flowers/bushes growing in the midst of concrete.

A ficus is growing from a rock (a natural, man-placed PV rock in the complex)on the lawn, close to our front door - nature sustaining nature (with a little watering from man). I'm just glad no one has chopped it down yet.

Petrea Burchard said...

Ha! Tash, I never watch the evening news. But try as I might, I can't help but hear about it.

mark said...

OK we better get the lawnmower out. Better make sure we adjust the height of the blade too. Nice photo. I call this photo, "the simple life."

John Sandel said...

mark's funny again. What is it with him?

Petrea Burchard said...

Mark's funny. I can't explain it, he just is.

Ms M said...

It is an inspirational photo; the brave blades of grass determined to find the sun. Good words, too. :)

Claude said...

I can't help wondering, Dove, if you are a CalArts graduate.

Petrea Burchard said...

Ms. M., no one's mentioned it but my favorite thing in the photo is the shadows made by the grass.

Claude, I don't know the inside joke but that's okay, I didn't understand what Linda meant either.

Anonymous said...

We don't need no education
We dont need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

- Waters, Roger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz4JNTsgSvo

TheChieftess said...

Since a very young age, I've been somewhat amused noticing how often the human race thinks it can outwit nature...I've always thought, "what are they, thinking, don't they know nature will win out in the end???"

Petrea Burchard said...

Chieftess, you remind me of this one: "The earth is gonna shake us off like a bad case of fleas.

TheChieftess said...

My sentiments exactly Petrea!!! George Carlin's right on in this one!!!

Dina said...

Yes. And those blades cast a giant shadow.

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