Tower of London & Globe Theater

Today's photography focus was to tell a story in five frames without narration. While the idea of conveying an overall idea with only photographic images is intriguing, it soon became the springboard that I would use to provide the genesis for my thoughts and set the tone for today’s reflective essay. In that odd way that all conversations segue into another topic, I initially stated the day at the Tower of London examining weapons and military items which spanned a 500 year period. My mate Eric and I talked about WWII for most of the time as we marveled at the human made armor and weapons made centuries before. Although it was easy to acknowledge the evolution of the making of weaponry and note that the increase in the durability and standards, one thing became clear -- it does not really matter what the time period, country of origin or type of armor making technique is; what remains a constant and critical factor in the success of any war is keeping the human body protected. The fragility of our bodies as an acknowledgment of our constant weakness and this is where the tangent started, as I asked myself: what about the wars we wage against nature? 

Even in beautiful London, as I strolled along the Thames River after we left the Tower, I marveled at my ability to enjoy the water and not feel guilty. For throughout this entire academic journey there has been a dark cloud following me like a shadow as I cannot from the notion that the Deep Water Horizon Oil Rig explosion and subsequent crude oil leakage into the Gulf is happening now! As I stood looking at the water flowing down the river, natural and beautiful, I knew that the oil pipeline was still leaking. Merely thinking of it feels like there's another hole in my heart that is not sending blood through my body, but pouring out into a puddle somewhere, never to be used to transport oxygen and do what blood is supposed to do. I am not saying that I feel that the Earth is a defenseless entity, far from it; nature has a way of wreaking havoc in the form of hurricanes and tornadoes, earthquakes and fault lines, active volcanoes, etc. But that is my point; some things which nature creates on the Earth are unstoppable and in the order of things which should be. Drilling into the Earth like it was a beer tap for an oil keg, however, seems completely insane. We have the technology and the brains to utilize alternate means and yet we drag our collective feet and shake our heads and when the pressure and disgust rises to a crescendo, we turn off the news or simply close our eyes and hope for the best. This is not a proactive way to deal with our problems in America. We need to be more realistic and evolve a little in order to handle our power needs and find some sustainability. We have but one earth, like we have but one heart in our fragile bodies, and if we keep that in mind, maybe some of the Earth’s plight and need for respect can be taken much more seriously than it is today. This weekend, the Gulf Coast area narrowly missed-out on tropical storm Bonnie, which would have upped the ante of the oil spill sevenfold. Tomorrow is just around the corner and we must carry on and make some progress. If not, we will be condemned to risk our fragile bodies to the next level of havoc the Earth will inevitably serve us, in a sort of karmic justice for our lack of reverence.