JUST ADD WATER AND...
There was a time when I would spent hours in the darkroom watching images come up and "fix" on paper, on paper underwater in trays of chemicals, chemicals that I probably will have no reason ever again to smell. When I think of never again having that or any other good experience not available to me any more, I admit to a little sadness. However, there are compensating benefits in the digital life of the Twenty-first Century. I spent about an hour in bright daylight making my own universe, no darkroom necessary.

With lots of worlds to choose from, I finally settled on the little blue one in the first picture, the one that probably looks a lot like earth from outer space. Of course, there are differences. There can be no wars in my world. Does that mean there can be no people? I hope not.
ON THIS PEACEFUL PLANET

On peaceful planet Earth
death is part of the process
built into the system...
acceptable cycles of regeneration and decay.
Earthquakes, floods and fire
thin and prune the population
eliminating sometimes an entire species.

Nobody minds those things much
because they’re part of the natural order,
but war is another thing.
It’s a sad game begun by villains
who preen and strut and smile
and claim their cause is righteous.
then call their enterprise a holy war.