Different Kinds of Flowers

 When I thought about the people who cannot see anything aesthetically pleasing about bugs and weeds, but are attracted to lots of things I find ugly, I decided I needed to step, however briefly, into that other world and see if I could relate.  So I drove to a place that is one of the ugliest I know of within a short drive of my home.  That would be an acre or so of forest just off the Snake Lake Road around 100 yards beyond the shooting range.  Just past the "No Dumping" signs I found a colorful display of shotgun shells.  This brought back memories of my first box of Crayola crayons in elementary school.  They were beautiful.  The teacher laboriously had the class repeat the names of the colors before we were allowed to open our boxes!  We could see the colors through a crescent-shaped slit on the front of the box.  "Class, repeat after me: red, orange, yellow, green, etc...."  I had known these colors for at least a couple of years, so this was incredibly boring.  I wanted to color!

 Within a few minutes, I was so impressed with the range of colors, I decided I would search for the full rainbow.  When I got to yellow, another first grade memory haunted me.  The teacher asked "What comes after yellow?   Mr. Willis?"   Being called mister in first grade gave me the creeps.

 I couldn't articulate why that was such a stupid question, so I whined softly "I don't know."  They all laughed at me.  Simple!   Green comes after yellow.  I was furious inside, but too timid to express myself further.  What if my box was upside down?  Then orange comes after yellow.  Are we supposed to read crayon boxes the same was as the printed page, left to right?  Who says?  It was absurd.  So, since my strongest memory is of the color yellow, this next photo celebrates an abundance of yellow.  I was in first grade around 3,000 miles from my present location, so it should be safe to vent after all these years.

 Precious green, which comes after yellow - at least in this photo sequence.  Enjoy.

 Blue seemed to glow in this environment.  One of my new favorites.

 I don't know if this one began as purple or if the sun is turning a blue one to purple.  At any rate, this is the best purple I could find.  Rusty, too, to break the monotony. 

 I found some bullet casings, too, which added to the excitement of finding these items which to some people are undoubtedly as beautiful as wildflowers are to me.  In fact, while posting these I found myself thinking of a recent flower sighting that matched each color: sweet pea, poppy, Gumplant, no green flowers laterly, but lots of leaves still green, chicory, and vetch.  So, I tried my hardest to see the shotgun shells as flowers

 The bullet casings stirred another aesthetic dimension - geometry.  I've always found geometry the most aesthetic branch of math.   The above photo I call "Eccentric Circles; Not Quite Concentric."

 I haven't seen any gold flowers.  Might as well call this one "Rimfire."

 And "Silver," memories of watching the Lone Ranger, liking Tonto, but hating the fake sound of hoofbeats on a sound stage.  Gadzooks, those Saturday a.m. cowboy shows were so phoney.

My archaeologist companion said this one looked like it used to be some sort of pigeon.  I just enjoyed the shade of orange.

 Speaking of different aesthetics, I was trying to imagine this being some sort of romantic setting, but I couldn't.  Maybe a launching pad for dirt bikes?

 Things get pretty ugly from this point onward.  An ugly mattress, but it might have become a good home for rodents.  I didn't check.

 I called this array "Targets" until I got closer.

 Then, I renamed this one "Another Kind of Logging?"

 And this horrific target must have been designed for the "sportsmen" who never got over WWII.  Challenges my faith in the principle of Freedom of Speech.  I wonder if targets on Japanese shooting ranges have pictures of John Wayne or some other such icon of American toughness.

 So, after contemplating my findings on this lovely field trip, I decided this was not a case of people unable to read, as I first suspected, nor necessarily a defiant crowd.  No, I decided they were just operating with a different aesthetic.  They weren't "dumping" but rather were "redecorating"  or perhaps "landscaping."  If people keep coming here they must find it beautiful.  I'm going back to communing with the likes of Star Thistle, Wasps, Rattlesnakes, and Poison Oak.  I feel safer.