The first time I photographed this wall of rock, sand and dirt, it was bare–completely bare–from the top edge of the wall to the water’s edge. The layer of iron-rich soil at the top of the wall was a much brighter orange than it is today, after two decades of fading in the sun. It looked like what it was: a horrible gash in the skin and flesh of Mother Earth, carved by the hungry bulldozers set loose by humankind needing fill for a highway nearby.

Today it looks pretty natural; that is, it looks as if it could have occurred naturally. Creation has amazing capacities of self-repair, given even minimal cooperation from the most destructive and voraciously predatory species to emerge on this planet. Imagine what we could do if we gave conserving and caring for Creation our best effort!