Heroes Not Zombies

Here are two photos taken on the night of a full moon.

They are actually two consecutive full moons so they show one full lunar cycle. These were taken back in 2007. I took the first one from my bedroom window, and the second from a twenty seventh floor Tokyo hotel room.

Of course, neither is actually a good photo of a full moon. Trying to take a decent photo of the moon isn’t easy, especially if you want to show the landscape over which it is shining. But I really like both of these photos all the same. They are such a contrast. One blue shot of Scottish hills and fields, and the other, several million electric lights shining in a dense urban landscape.

The fact that these two nights bookend a single lunar cycle, yet show such dramatically different living conditions, makes them an interesting pair of photos to contemplate together.

My preference is for the Scottish one, perhaps because that’s where I was born and grew up. But a lot more people prefer to live in Tokyo!

I’ve heard people say they could never live anywhere but in the city, and just going on population size, clearly cities are a popular choice.

I think we’re all different. Some of us genuinely prefer to live in small towns or in the countryside but others definitely prefer city life. Given how different these environments are, I’m pretty sure they show us a good argument for the devolution of power to the greatest extent possible. The needs and daily issues of country and city dwellers are not the same, and neither are the solutions to their problems.

And yet, lift your gaze a bit higher and that moon reminds us that despite our differences we all share the one planet, the same atmosphere, the same water cycle, the same living web of Nature.