hatchling

My first thought upon seeing this hatchling was how beautiful. There was a bit of sadness in that it never made it and yet a bit of joy celebrating this unexpected gift found on my morning walk of something fragile, unfinished, and naturally beautiful. In my attempt to edit a day later I didn’t seem to be able to conjure that colorful image in my head when I took the shot. My mood was the same (as far as I could tell) but the edit was dark and I couldn’t figure why. “[Mine's] not to reason why.”

This for some reason brought to mind Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” For as long as I can remember I was an avid reader of all things war inspired (My favorite actors of the time; Norris, Stallone, and Schwarzenegger seemed to feed my fascination). As a child I would read the book of Joshua because of all the battles. I carried this fascination all the way through high school. I think most of my AP History books, when given the choice, had something to do with war (e.g. Rifles for Waite, Bury my heart at Wounded Knee, Going after Cacciato, etc). Some glorified the idea of war while others sought to depict the horror (e.g. Slaughter House Five).

There’s nothing like the perceived indestructibility of youth and nothing more jarring to the human condition than coming to terms with one’s mortality. However, we seem to avoid, whenever possible, and unless of course forced to, the beauty in death. The meaning of life has always been about death (for me). The space between the beginning and the end, whatever the length,  is how we make meaning of the journey.  I for some reason have found the most beauty and hope for humanity in this space among those who by choice or fate stand up in the face of a personal (real or imagined) end.  How else can one truly appreciate the gift of life? We are all fragile, unfinished, and if you’re lucky enough to live long enough to strip away the things that matter not, you also have the opportunity to be beautiful in the end.

Musical Accompaniment – Beach House – Bloom