On the Topics of Trash and the Apocalypse.

I think about the Boot on 33rd and it amazes me that it was able to remain undisturbed for so long; and for me it is full of some serious implications.

My vision of the Apocalypse used to consist of fire, brimstone, the living dead, and maybe a meteor of some kind. Now I think the end of the world will be much more of a man made event. I picture a cold, dim lifeless world cast in shades of grey with drifts of crumbled styrofoam shifting in the wind. I find the styrofoam apocalypse much more depressing. It's the difference between being taken slowly from this world by sickness, versus a few seconds of panic over a blue wire and then exploding. Both are tragic events, but there is at least some excitement in the latter.

Don't get me wrong, I sincerely believe that humanity has the ability and the good sense to prevent this vision from coming true. It is in our self interest to survive. :)

But back to the Boot. I can't help but think about what other pieces of trash are out there in the world sitting patiently, waiting... Lawn chairs, umbrellas, dolls, coins, orange traffic cones, plastic bottles, a tire lying in a field. We are talking about the product of mankind's collective industrial capacity for the past 4000 years or so, just lying around. I was raised to value intellectual and spiritual achievements over physical ones because: "You can't take your toys with you when you die." The other side of that coin is that when I die, my toys get left here.