The Geometry of Life

road trip

When you drive along the highways of California, particularly the side ones rather than the large interstates, you get a close-up look at varying stages of life. I'm talking about the life that grows in the vast farm lands. Some fields are fallow, not yet planted. Some have mature trees that, depending on the time of year, are dormant or bursting with life. We passed one that looked like a gigantic geometric puzzle.

In this very large field were literally thousands of new trees planted like good soldiers in straight lines, one behind and beside the other. These tender shoots were housed in individual white sheaths to help them grow straight and to protect them from voracious tree-eating critters. It was all very uniform and pleasing to the eye if you just stood and looked out over the field. It was all very psychedelic, however, if you passed by going 65 miles per hour. At this speed, the perfect, separate lines worked together to play havoc with my brain. Lines went this way, then that as the brain took in the images and reworked them into mind-blowing patterns. Serenity just flew out the window as my brain went into overdrive.

I know there's a lesson in all this but I have to tell you I'm too dizzy just thinking about it. I just have to have a camera ready next time so I can capture the way life can morph so quickly from predictable and comforting to just barely holding on for the ride.