The Drought Is Breathtaking

TIME magazine is running a breathtaking collage from photojournalist George Steinmetz illustrating in images the severity of the American drought and its impact on communities. I’m taken aback by several photos of parched areas neatly juxtaposed against relatively lush green lawn-scapes that simply do not belong. Like colorful jade green Legos spilled across a tan tile floor in the average American home. And just as painful to look at an appreciate for their waste of water as it is to walk over wayward Legos on barefeet in the middle of the night.

I’m particularly struck by the image above, one of Steinmetz’ best in the piece where “the Island” resort is no longer an island at all and the boat docks sit on baked mud.

All this makes me proud to own a garden dominated by native Florida plants that tolerate the poor soil, wicked temperatures, and lack of rain with a stout constitution.  It makes me likewise proud of my incredibly dirty Subaru sitting in the driveway.  I can’t consent to sudsing down a car when whole communities are running dry.