Rose Dickson
08 November 2008
1223 – 1230 hours
Sidewalk along the Mill Stream, near the library on Willamette University campus, Salem, OR, USA
55 degrees, light rain
The rain on the multicolored leaves of autumn, create a glossy, painted look to the sidewalk. The fallen leaves are a tie-dyed red, orange and yellow. They are gracefully sprinkled across the pavement and torn by the many passersby. The rain melts the leaves like watercolor and the once drab sidewalk becomes a beautiful sight. As I walk over the leaves I am careful not to ruin the artwork of nature, not to tear or brush the beauty beneath my feet. As I walk on, however, I think back on our last colloquium class and our discussion of humans’ relationship to nature or the natural world. I want to see myself as part of nature, a small piece interacting and manipulating like any other factor. I am, whether I see it or not, contributing to this artwork just as much as the leaves or the sidewalk beneath it. How could humans be considered on a separate plain than nature? Humans are animals and animals are part of nature, where would the line be drawn? The leaves have fallen off their tree due to the change of season, and like the influence of weather the leaves have been broken and torn by the influence of man. Man is an influential factor on nature, just as all components create influence.
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