See Through

Inspired by my friend Julia's close-up photos of lake ice [examples], the other day I photographed close-up and at ground level the garbage on the street by the store, where the dealers hang out with their fires. (The police chased the dealers off, but they'll be back.)

What I'd seen as ugly & disturbing became interesting, and even, as I’d hoped, beautiful.

Above: Ice crystals, Ash, and Plastic Wrap

All material is natural, at its core. Right? We can't create something from nothing--we can only change material, matter, that already exists.
Plastics that we see as ugly are, as Penny Cooper always says, dinosaur and fern juice.

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Carbon, Ice, and Copper (For Penny) 

 

If we can see through the ugliness we've created, we should (in theory) be able to perceive the beauty of the underlying matter itself. 

 

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 Ice, Ash, Plastic, Salt

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Water & Wood, Iron & Snow

 

I often feel that I am witnessing a breakdown, bits of civilization sliding off the edge. Perhaps--probably--this is always happening—it’s entropy, man—and it’s  always a matter of shoring up the ruins. 
So I said to myself:

If (since) this is happening, be curious!

[Later, I'd try to share this pov with the students in their first year at seminary: look for the beauty in the breakdown.]