A Parking lot

Lone tree squeezing through pavement.

Seeking sun, water

– and friends.

Notes: I sometimes stare out the window when on my commuter train, lost in thought, and watching the world go by. The other day I noticed a small tree growing in an abandoned parking lot*. Nature ekes out an existence even in a harsh landscape that has been totally transformed by humans. Remember drive-in movie theatres**? These aren’t really a thing anymore, but I have noticed how trees, shrubs, grasses and other plants (and animals) have taken over these habitats, which were formally great expanses of pavement. So, there are two ways to look at the tree in a parking lot: 1) hope and inspiration as soon nature will be triumphant, or 2) a depressing reminder of our concrete world. Some days I think about the former; other days, the latter.

*yes, we paved paradise, and put up a parking lot

**Atlas Obscura did about an abandoned drive-in movie theatre in Laval, Quebec (not too far from me)