The Fourth River

A Journal of Nature and Place-based Writing Published by the Chatham University MFA Program

Issue O.15 Artwork

photography by mary beth ely

During the pandemic shutdown, I became more than a casual photographer. I began to immerse myself in nature, listening, smelling, observing. I learned to quiet my mind and body as I walked through the park, and began to notice tiny forms of life of all kinds. I felt drawn to beings - plants, animals, insects, the creek with its inhabitants - that showed a little of the wear and tear of living or that were moving from one stage of life to the next. Perfection, if it even exists, does not interest me. The ragged beauty of real life lived does. When I am in the zone of taking photos, time seems to stop. I feel waves of awe and wonder, joy, delight, and curiosity. And great gratitude. I feel love for this glorious messy world, and a strong passion to protect it in any way I can.