Nature is Both Brutal and Beautiful

Beautiful brutality are two words that seem at odds with each other, right? But that’s exactly what the natural world really is – Nature is both brutal AND beautiful.

Even the parts most people would consider ugly is still beautiful in purpose and design.

We don’t like to think of ourselves as brutal. But we also take part in nature’s dance of life, and because of that, we also partake in the brutality.

Brutal Cold

2025 Jan 6

This morning it was brutally cold at 14*F with a brisk wind to make it feel even colder. My feet and fingers were both numb after going out to feed the horses and chickens.

The hens were still on their roost and seemed affronted that I expected them to get down on the ground to eat. I poured warm water into their watering dish to melt the ice and give them a bit of ‘wet’ water on top of it.

On my way back to the house, I stopped at the car to start it warming before it was time to leave for work.

Beautiful and Brutal

The cold imparted the ‘brutal’ and the sights gave the ‘beauty’ this morning. Icicles decorated the bluffs alongside our driveway.

Low clouds partially filled the sky, but blue sky showed through with a magical, early morning backlight on our scenic dirt road. I’d left a little early to allow extra time in case of icy roads. Still, I stopped a few times along our road to take some photos.

I’ll use this one for a reference later to paint the scene. This is a blind curve, and would be a lot more dangerous if our road was paved and cars/trucks/atvs drove even faster than they do on the dirt. So, I hope it stays a dirt road forever, but not for that reason alone.

At the river, though, I’m really hoping to eventually get a good snowy photo for the winter scene. I’ve done the spring, autumn, and summer already. This one’s a great show of how nature is both brutal and beautiful, but there’s not much snow.