among iron artwork

among iron artwork

a fractal spiderweb

fragile ever-new

Sitting in the morning sun, digging dandelions from the stone walkway, I am thinking about the persistence of small things. The woodpecker holes in the cedar posts holding up the hard yet fragile glass. The robin throwing himself repeatedly against his rival's reflection in the west window. The sprinkling of flying ants dead on the sunroom floor. How did they get in? The patina on the iron palm leaf fence designed by Antonio Gaudi a hundred years ago, a delicate spider web woven between the metal spikes, each silk strand five times stronger than steel. Gaudi, who said, "Originality is a return to the origin."

old stone surrounded

old stone surrounded

by glass & steel, the present

reflecting the past

You can see this scenario in many cities, an old edifice, built in the architectural style of a previous century, rubbing shoulders with modern skyscrapers. This ornate old stone building in Rochester, Minnesota, across from the Mayo Clinic, looks like a mother surrounded by her grown children, a little baffled but mostly proud, while the children, sleek and up-to-date, reflect their heritage in their facades.