the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you;
and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
Who among all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of every human being.
Job 12:7-10 (NRSV)
I went searching through my iPhone photos for one -- just one -- of a pond which was on my cycling route when I was still working downtown in Belleville. I don't have any despite passing it regularly on my commute. I was there this morning and didn't take any then either because it's "hugly"
This is a storm run-off pond at the edge of the much more photogenic Bay of Quinte. I've posted many photos of that shoreline of the bay, which was also part of my "virtuous cycle." The pond is murky and from the rough trail a noisy factory and the railway tracks are the backdrop, so there is a reason I don't take pictures.
Yet this pond is remarkably alive. This morning a stump on the far side was covered with recently emerged turtles. The Red-winged blackbirds were in full voice, as were other birds. It was rare to go past in warmer weather without seeing a blue heron, or one or the other of a pair of elusive green herons. Swans and cormorants hang out there, as well as muskrats and an occasional beaver. Oh yes -- dragonflies and damselflies and butterflies and...you get the picture.
I often stopped for a moment as I cycled past this "ugly," inconsequential body of water which may well be toxic with the effluent of our storm sewers.
What is ugly in God's Creation? Not this place, even though it supposedly has a face that only a Mother can love. I'll continue to stop and gaze with affection and appreciation. I still have a lot to learn from this pond.
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