Picture Prompt

MSNBC has 'the week in pictures' every week, for the week of April 16-23rd this is picture #5.  Our challenge this week at sb.com is to comment on this picture.  

My first thought when I saw this picture was to chuckle, I thought it was a silly photo taken of a guy trying to row through shaving cream or soap bubbles.  I thought that it was one of those set up photos that photographers do for kicks and giggles.  Then I looked a little closer and saw that it looked more like foam, you know the type you get on top of fast moving water like rapids and such.  

But as they say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I don't know if it is the photographer in me or what I thought I should look a little closer...so then I started to see things that you don't notice at first glance, like that for someone who is rowing through so much water how is that the guy looks so dirty.  His hands look very dark but since I can't see his face to determine nationality or race I assume that his hands are very dirty, as his shirt appears to be.  Then I look into his old wooden boat.  I see that his boat is being filled with garbage.  Now perhaps the garbage was added to the boat in the staged picture, or perhaps the garbage was in the boat when he set out on his voyage.  But after looking at the garbage I see that it isn't typical garbage but things I would find if I were to take my boat and row down my local lake or river, bottles and cans, water bottles and plastic bags.  It makes me wonder what the photographer is trying to say in this picture...so I read the description provided with the photo...

Purwajiono rows his wooden boat through polluted waters at Pluit dam in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 20.

Well that explains a lot for me.  No longer is this a staged photo (I knew it wasn't but first thought led me that way) but a very sad photo.  I live in an area filled with beauty, I am very fortunate to live in an area surrounded by lakes and rivers. Crystal clear blue lakes, deep cold water that although I wouldn't do it, you could probably drink straight from them if you really needed to, I am certain if in a pinch you were to boil the water you would most definetly be able to drink it.  And they show a picture of water so polluted it looks surreal, it looks like what my dirty dish water looks like, the thought of drinking that water repulses me.  I could never imagine the water that we boat in, and swim in to look like that but is that what our world is coming to?  I am sure the water in the MSNBC photo didn't used to look like that, I am sure it looked as calm and beautiful of Cold Lake here in Northern Alberta.  So what happened?  What made that lake look so ugly and disgusting?  People...that is my answer, we only care about us and we don't look forward to what the future holds...well people this is what the future holds all our beautiful lakes looking like dirty dish water if we don't stop polluting our planet.  

The photo was taken 2 days prior to Earth day, think about it...is this what you want to leave your children and grandchildren?  I know I don't...I hope that my children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy the beauty of the earth for many many years to come.