When we reached the still waters of the beginning of Boathouse Row, where the canoes floated idly against the dock and the trees reflected their mossy green in the shaded water, two things happened. One, I was struck by the beauty and tranquility of the scene, so like an impressionist painting. This is as beautiful as it gets in gritty Philadelphia.
And two, it occurred to me suddenly that water is not supposed to be clean. In imagination, I always picture natural bodies of water to be blue and clear, but in real life, I am always unpleasantly surprised by how green or brown and unclear they are. The Schuylkill in Philly is always bashed for its mysteriously murky, hazardous-looking water, supposedly full of dead bodies; and the waters of Greenlake in Seattle reflect its name due to the excessive growth of algae and milfoil underneath its calm surface; and the Nile and Tigris, both acclaimed rivers in ancient times, but when you actually see them, you can't help but cringe at the thought of stepping foot into their murky depths. But maybe that's how natural bodies of water should be and the fault is really with my idealization of rivers and lakes.
And two, it occurred to me suddenly that water is not supposed to be clean. In imagination, I always picture natural bodies of water to be blue and clear, but in real life, I am always unpleasantly surprised by how green or brown and unclear they are. The Schuylkill in Philly is always bashed for its mysteriously murky, hazardous-looking water, supposedly full of dead bodies; and the waters of Greenlake in Seattle reflect its name due to the excessive growth of algae and milfoil underneath its calm surface; and the Nile and Tigris, both acclaimed rivers in ancient times, but when you actually see them, you can't help but cringe at the thought of stepping foot into their murky depths. But maybe that's how natural bodies of water should be and the fault is really with my idealization of rivers and lakes.
We probably do this more than we realize- kind of like how we draw stars with 5 triangle points, but in reality, stars look nothing like that. Or how we often draw sheep as these fluffy, cloud-like things, but in reality, sheep hair is long, straight, and mangy and not white. Sigh...I always suffer such disappointment whenever I run across a real sheep! They are not at all like the cute and fluffy sheep you see in cartoons. Mental and physical representations probably rarely ever match up with the real object it represents. But that's ok because representations don't necessarily have to be accurate, right?
1 comment:
Yes, I do think I must show up at your door step in the not so distant future. Who knew that I would actually miss that dirrty city?
Post a Comment