A small storm accompanied me on part of my trip to Chicago last night.

On my way to Ann Arbor from Minneapolis a few days ago, a massive storm gathered on the horizon as I drove down I-94. Lightning strikes were occurring more than once per second - I don’t think I’d ever seen that before. The sky was lit up more often than not in a glorious display of nature’s awesome power. I had to get off the interstate where I found a dark road with a great view. I stopped and walked into a field where I just stared in awe for 20 minutes at this storm as it slowly approached. Eventually huge blobs of water started coming down and I was no longer in awe as I ran back to my van.

As I continued my drive, now in a torrential downpour, I thought about nature’s power when it descends upon urban ruins. The elements - the rain, the cold, the heat… even oxygen - start eroding away the buildings, while the bugs start eating and chipping away, since they’ll eat any old crap. In no time, plants begin growing in the mortar and in all the little cracks. The roots go deeper and get thicker and somehow these fragile little things begin cracking the bricks and the concrete and the wood, slowly consuming the building. The powerful, yet gentle arms of nature reach around these structures and slowly but forcefully pull them down to the ground, drawing them back to the earth, as earth, from whence they began. It’s an incredible cycle that is both inspiring and frightening.

Don’t turn your back on this harmless looking Pansy (shot in 2002)… it could punch your lights out!!