As I walked around the arboretum, I noticed that many of the Oregon grape leaves were covered with blemishes. The green leaves were like landscapes, and from my aerial view, the tan blotches appeared as burned areas. The shapes were random with red, inflamed edges. The leaves looked scorched as if a caustic liquid was splattered across their surface.
I turned a leaf over to look at the underside. Illuminated by the sunlight shining through, the paper-thin spots were changed into small, stained glass windows. This sparked an interesting shift in my perception, what I originally saw as an imperfection became a mark of beauty.
The earth is a vastly diverse and mysterious place. There are unimaginable numbers of microscopic life forms constantly creating, destroying, and transforming our world.
