It has been raining a lot recently and the water washes over the road mixing with anything there. As I was walking down to check the mail I noticed a really neat color pattern on the road. It looks like a big drop of oil dispersed evenly in all directions and made this circular pattern.
When I was a child I always thought these patterns were very colorful and beautiful to look at. My parents never liked them I could not understand why.
Now I know why. The oil and other urban pollution washes straight into the storm drain and goes directly into the Puget Sound. This causes many issues for the fish and other aquatic life.
A drop of oil on the road. – click for viewing full screen
The burning and use of oil is a serious problem. Many climate scientists much smarter than I am are very concerned. Over 97% percent of them are sounding the alarm and think we need to do something about the use of fossil fuels. The traditional news media tends to give equal voice to the 3% of climate scientists that think there is no issue or we are facing a new ice age. I think this is making many people confused. (These figures are from my memory of other social media sources – you should check on them to be sure)
Fairy Tales Denying Greenhouse Gas Warming
If you are not familiar with Paul Beckwith I recommend looking at few of his videos on Youtube. He explains the issues very well.
Feeling Hopeful
Walking away from the oil I can not help see the beauty of the colorful light patterns reflected off the surface of the road from the thin film of oil. In a way it reminds me that things could change very quickly for the better. In the space of around a decade we have been known to go from a society of mostly horse drawn carriages to the one of mostly automobiles.
When things become economically feasible and people realize the benefits for doing things differently things can change very fast.
Thanks for reading! The photo was taken by me with my Galaxy S7.
More about the reflection challenge can be read HERE
I nominate anyone with a desire for reflections to try out the challenge.