Monday, November 07, 2005

Why I Study Biology

man today i was walking to school, and on the way i found this leaf. it was a maple leaf. the veins had turned to orange and there was green around the orange, with deep purple surrounding it all. it looked like the veins were bleeding, the way it looks when you drop diluted ink onto fabric, and the ink finds its way along the threads, spreading out like little spidery silks or diseases. anyway i picked up this leaf and i was so capitivated. its beauty overtook me and i had such upwelling in my soul... i felt there could be nothing more beautiful in all the world than this leaf. and it is such because there is no effort in it, no intention, just the chaotic everlasting beauty of nature, of biology. i thought about all the beauty in living things, the care that goes into building a spider web, the systematic movements of ants as they collect food, the epiphytes of the rainforest as they sustain the most diverse and immense ecosystems with nutrients, this leaf. there is so much beauty i dont know what to do with it sometimes.

"The greatest beauty is organic wholeness,
the wholeness of life and things,
the divine beauty of the universe."
-Robinson Jeffers

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

How do you find time to stop and ponder the intricate detail of a leaf? Perhaps my time-management skills need improving, or my prioriteis re-arranging. It's a leaf! I'm sorry, maybe I'm just jealous. I guess I take for granted the big wonders that come in the tiniest form. Never change.

Anonymous said...

Dear Leaf Lover,

I am in total agreeance with you, and sometimes the overwhelming complexity that is masked in every day objects is enough to make me break into some retardly goofy smile, although I am biased because Fall is especially close to my heart, and I flipping love the colors of the leaves, and the blue skies, and the cold winds.

Anonymous said...

there is no such word as agreeance the word is agreement...thanks