Friday, December 11, 2009

Inside

I was a scientist in my previous life. I used to study inner nature of materials, I specialized in the wonders of the electron microscopy. And it was fun; it is quite exciting to see the surface and structure of the ordinary things around us in microscale - unless we know, it is almost impossible to say what exactly is the object of the interest, it is like looking at some strange monochromatic landscapes.

My daily walks through the towering city somehow remind me about the images I used to see in the microscope, just from slightly different perspective. The colors are, too, in the shades of stony gray or brown, especially in narrow alleys where the sun does not reach the pavement


and the uniformity is broken only by the reflections of the sky in the numerous glass walls and windows (provided it is sunny day of course).


The buildings are arranged to the regular formations with clearly defined boundaries - like the grains in the well crystallized material


and like the crystals which had enough time and space, some would grow tall and sharp and shiny.


I can even see the fine lattice of offices and corridors inside, the solid bonds between the atoms :)


and squished skinny facets of the steel after quenching (oh yes, i do mean martensite) ...


Elsewhere the order is bravely broken by the inclusions, to strengthen the imaginary structure ...


There are days I miss the thrills of science - than I get my coat and go for walk and the spleen is gone.

2 comments: