Beautiful Disorder

I briefly described, in an earlier post, the view that nature reclaims human artiface through it’s perpetual, but gradual, growth and elemental adoption.  I think that we tend to regard this action as a result of the forces of chaos and destruction, because it involves the dissipation of structures which humans have created, presumably for good purpose.  What I’d like to discuss in this post is what I think of as the “beautiful disorder” of nature.

Much like a fractal, nature is intrinsically ordered, even though to our eye it often appears chaotic.  Hercalitus once said, “there is no order more beautiful than a pile of random sweepings.”  As he also said, “nature likes to hide,” therefore one must look openly and carefully to see the beautiful order hidden within the apparant chaos.

By way of illustrating this point, here are a few photos from around our property and various other places in the area around Placerville, California.

A Random "Sweeping" of Things Under a Tree

The photo above shows the husks and pine cones from a large Douglas Fir, together with some twigs, pine needles and other detritus.  You might call it a “potpourri” of natural treasures.  The order in this random gathering of stuff cast off by growing things is quite lovely.

The birds nest below is fascinating and lovely.  This must be how native peoples learned to weave.  Yet, the randomness of this “basket” is artful and intriguing.

And a little closer reveals amazing details.

And here, a random leaf is caught in a cacophony of dead twigs, creating a marvel of contrast and hidden meaning.

I find in the branches of trees, especially when contrasted against the sky, the best of “random” beauty.  These patterns and the sense of energy and vitality flowing through them are endless in their variety and interest.

In this photo of the ground in our orchard, we can see similarities with the way the bird wove the above nest.

To end this post, take a look at this particular arrangment offered, again, by the unique qualities of the moment and the environs of the orchard.