Watch this video. It’s kind of a horror show because we know how detrimental this plastic will be to wildlife when it finally detaches from the fence, and there’s not much we can do about it. But it’s also kind of beautiful because, well, just watch how the sheets blow in the wind like that grocery bag in American Beauty. I have no idea where this plastic came from. I recorded the video on July 13 from the platform of the Rockridge BART station, and today about half of the plastic is still there, blowing as the cars race by on Highway 24.

This painting hangs on my wall. My brother, Will Terry ^[1], made it. He’s an illustrator. He uses acrylics, plastic paint, for a living. His work is lively and beautiful… and plastic. The work itself may not pollute like the plastic blowing on the fence, but the production of the paint undoubtedly caused some environmental destruction.

I don’t have anything wise or even ironic to say about these things tonight. We live in a world full of contradictions. There are no absolute rights or wrongs. I believe we are all just doing the best we can with the limited knowledge and resources that we have. I have to go to bed now and get up early to help out some friends involved in a terrible car accident yesterday. And I may not have time to write tomorrow.

I guess I’m just awed by this universe where the terrible and beautiful collide every day, and most of us survive and carry on without noticing until something jolts out of complacency. Good night. Don’t forget to look around you tomorrow. And breathe.