Burned and Beautiful

08/27/2022

Burned and Beautiful

I went back to the park one morning at the end of August. As usual at this hour, it was empty, except for the plants (and the skunks lol). The tapestry of color was intense but I felt unsettled as I looked a little closer and saw that many of the plants were parched and burned. I'm not sure why I was surprised.

I know that last winter I was looking forward to summer, but why? It's too hot. Everyone I know (in the plant world, by which I mean the actual plants) is testy and irritated (or dead). I keep thinking about China, where -- at least from what I gather on Twitter -- they're enduring the worst heat wave ever recorded. Another tweet I think about is how this will be the coolest year of the rest of our lives.

Even though I take millions of pictures of this flower every year, I had forgotten about the Japanese anemone. Hello, old friend -- you look good -- have you been working out :)

Yes, I know -- the edges of my petals are a little fried, too :(

I also keep thinking about another Tweet I saw about China (and it's not the one where they've used as much concrete in the last three years as the United Stated did in the entire 20th century, although I think about that, too). Apparently, they now have a high speed rail between Beijing and Shanghai (approximately the same distance as between New York City and Chicago) that leaves every twenty minutes and takes a little over four hours. Imagine calling your friend in Chicago and saying, 'Hey -- do you have lunch plans? I can catch the ten o'clock train and we can have a late lunch and walk through the gardens before I take the six-o'clock home. Oh really? I hate when that happens. What about tomorrow, then? Okay, great. We're on.' Actually, I don't have to imagine it because this is what it's like liking uptown and making plans with friends who live in Brooklyn (except for the switching-to-tomorrow part).

It was a good summer, until we were incinerated.

Posted at 02:22 PM in Expression, Science Projects | Permalink

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Music: Death Culture at Sea and Saturnine

Listen or download songs and records from my indie-rock past with Saturnine here and Death Culture at Sea here.

Music Video: Remembrance of Things Past

Watch the rock opera Remembrance of Things Past written and performed by Saturnine and Frances Gibson, starring Bennett Madison and Sheila McClear.

Video: The Chaos Detective

The Chaos Detective is a series about a man searching for 'identity' as he completes assignments from a mysterious organization. Watch the first episode (five parts) on YouTube.

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Expression//Reaction//ScienceProjects

08/27/2022