The Beautiful in Nature

Thea and Yours Truly at Shiels Bay

We went out to Bere Point to kayak this week. We were on the ocean surrounded by fog and kelp beds. Tammy kept saying how "beautiful" it all was. What was it she found beautiful? There was nothing to see. Okay.  It was an aesthetic response. She was expressing a mood. She was touched.

Yesterday Linda, Thea, and I hiked to Shiels Bay. I found myself stopping constantly to examine certain natural forms, in particular those of driftwood, and was astonished, amazed, pleased, and so on. Again, it was an aesthetic response. In both cases, we expect other people to be similarly moved. Beautiful, ain't it? (Click photos to enlarge.)

The odd thing about "Beauty" in nature is how different each particular instance is and how difficult it would be to bring a number of objects under a single denominator. In a painting or in any work of art we have criteria by which we evaluate its merits, even if we agree that humans respond differently to a work. These driftwood formations defy any attempt to analyze them. They are not governed by an artist's intention. They are purposeless, having come to be what they are without any intent. And next year will look totally different, or may not exist at all.