Monday, March 8, 2010

It's a Small World

Yesterday was a still, grey day at the beach, slate water blending almost invisibly into cloud-covered sky. These formations are what remains of winter's icy covering. Fragile though they may seem, they are solid sheets of ice, and, though they were dripping steadily in the 40 degree weather, no amount of kicking or jumping on would break these sand-infused ice overhangs. They looked like mini natural wonders of the world, places where centimeter-tall ancient cliff-dwellers could have made homes. There were caves where tiny spelunkers could study ice stalactites or mine for precious pebbles. It's funny to think that yesterday they probably looked totally different, and tomorrow they will look different still. And before too long they will be piles of sand and then waves will smooth them over and if we hadn't seen them, we'd never know they were there. It makes you feel lucky, sometimes, to be in the right place at the right time to see things that so many others completely miss. In all the years and all the days, of all the places, there could only have been this one moment when I could see this thing... But it also makes me wonder how many millions of cool things I was one day too late or too early to experience, or what was just around the bend that I didn't see. I suppose that's a depressing take on it, and I should go back to being lucky that I was in the right place at the right time, no?

2 comments:

  1. It's nice to see that others have imaginations that sometimes travel the same road as mine. I've made similar observations about nature's sculptures, particularly those involving ice. Thanks for the images.

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  2. Interesting natural sculptures. Sometimes I find something that is so intriguing that I call my daughter to come take pictures of it. She is the photographer in the family:) I just have a point and shoot.

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