Life persists...

I was walking round my local nature reserve this morning, & took some pictures.

While there are some beautiful scenes of nature, there are also various factories, gasometers etc in the vicinity too, so I had to use my cameraphone to tactically shoot round them.

It's a beautiful day today, & I was reminded that for most of human history, we've spent it very connected to nature. This connection to the natural world is literally wound into our DNA.

Then I came across a tree, with grafitti sprayed on it. While I'm used to seeing tags sprayed on buildings & walls (man-made artefacts), this was the first time I could remember seeing it sprayed on a tree, something natural & living.

My first reaction was a kind of minor outrage, which quickly gave way to a strange sense that there was something quite poetic about it. It occurred to me that the tree had probably been around since before the graffiti-artist was born (assuming it wasn't an old-age pensioner with a spray-can), & would probably outlive him or her. That in fact this tag was probably entirely temporary, & didn't bother the tree in the slightest.

As I looked around, I could see that nature was taking it's toll on the man-made stuff in the environment (rusting, crumbling, decaying) while the cycle of nature persisted.

The river keeps flowing, the trees keep growing, the clouds wander by at their own pace. Even the impact of time, weather, gravity & oxidation on the man-made structures are evidence of the natural cycles of birth & death.

The journey continues...

By the way, I'd love your comments on this - please give me feedback so I know what you think.