September 25, 2004
Hold It Out For Me To See
As I trotted through mystic vale the other day, I found a record lying on the forest floor. I picked it up and gave it a toss. I waited to hear it land but it didn't. Confused, I continued with my walk.
So what happens when nature presents you with a human tool? It was as though after I tossed the record, which used to play music, then became garbage, a tree caught it and held it out for a grab at attention. I'm not going to guess at what the tree means by holding up a record.
Tools, the apparatus, nature and how we use it to make tools. . . these things have been on my mind, and I've been only thinking of these things as one way, as in, humans take nature and convert it into tools, or convert it into a use that we can understand. Can nature use our tools? Can a tree, or a wave, pick something human out and use it to its use? For whatever reason, which doesn't include the act of reasoning, this tree held onto some garbage that used to play melodies and used it up. The record's use is furthered, the tree has caught it and is presenting an image on the side of a path that for all purposes, serves as a distraction from the pavement just outside.