Nature is calling us back
The Federal Flood that ensued after Katrina is a reminder of men’s egos and greed. The tsunami of Sri Lanka, the floods of Pakistan, the earthquakes in China, the earthquake and tsunami now in Japan are reminders of who is in charge. Mario Botta erected the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and said where there was once nothing, we have erected this building. There had been something there.
Is it our folly to build permanent structures? Are we mad to seek constants in an unpredictable world? Is there any use in planning for a world that will most certainly change? I asked this to myself as I listened to a friend talk about the rift in her marriage and how to reconcile hate and love, action and nonaction, belief and disbelief. I asked it again this morning as I once again contemplate the horrendous events in Japan in light of my recent memories of Katrina.
A tree was planted in the backyard to give shade and pecans. A screen porch was designed around its shade. It came down before the porch was completed and then needed to be chopped and disposed of. The tree didn’t even have time to yield furniture, which might then have rotted in standing, shallow water from the next flood or be handed down to generations.
