I spent this weekend out among nature in California.. reminding myself that being another year older has no effect on my value as a person.. except perhaps to make me better.. That effort was moderately successful... and any way you look at it.. time in the mountains is well spent...

But it brought a question to mind: why do people find some things scenic and other things not?

Now  I don't mean why does one person like red and another blue.. we all have our likes and dislikes.  But the majority of people tend to find the same things scenic: the mountains, the beach, etc...

Why?

Driving across a bridge I thought to myself: these metal girders, when set over a river, become scenic; for the most part, people find bridges attractive, even metal ones.  Set those same girders along the road, and they become a junk yard.  Why?

This made me think that perhaps the bridge represents something comforting... man's triumph over nature... so we like it.  But if that's the case, mountains should be dark and scary.. but they're not.  Why?

Perhaps it's because mountains are old.. the ancients of the earth.  But the dirt in a flat farm field is even older.. it's ground down mountains.. and few people.. other than my brother who was a farmer.. find that very attractive.

We say we love the ocean.. but how many people take pictures of just the water.. it's always the shoreline.. the beach.. what about these things do we find universally attractive.

I'm not sure.. but in a way.. it's comforting.  If we all tend to find the same things.. the same landscapes.. attractive.. it means there's a commonality to all of us.  It's just another proof that no matter where we live.. what country we're in.. we are a global community after all.. and I like that...

It's interesting because not all artistic stimuli are quite as shared.  Words we can share in common.. once translated.. so that many find Shakespeare or Homer attractive regardless of national boundaries... As I writer.. I find that very comforting...

Then we get into music.. visual arts.. and so on.. and things become more separated.. more diverse..

But the diversity is good too... I hope we never lose it.  The only thing that saddens me about the prospect of a global community is the thought that we might all dilute each other's uniqueness... like all the colored pansies blending into a muddy brown if allowed to pollinate each other.... too much commonality can be just as depressing as too many differences...

Still.. considering how separated we all still are in the world.. it's nice to know that there are still some things that can bring all of us together.. some notes.. some words.. some images.. like the beach or the mountains...

But why.....?