There’s a pretty excellent book called The World Without Us by Alan Weisman that describes in great detail what would happen to the Earth and our imprint thereof if human kind were to suddenly disappear. What would New York look like after 50 years? After 250? What of our machinations would crumble, and which would endure forever? Short answer: Farmland will look a lot less like farmland very quickly, but those goofy plastic bits that come suspended in pricey body washes will be around for a while.
I was reminded of Weisman’s book when I happened by the Interurban Bridge, just outside of Waterville.
This rather prosaically named bridge was built in 1908 to host an electric train line from Waterville into Toledo. When it was new, the bridge was subject to controversy and pride. It was built in part on a sacred and historic island in the middle of the river, and it was then the largest bridge of its type in the world. When the line closed in 1937, the structure was left to seed. It is now a striking example of one of our prideful accomplishments being slowly reclaimed by the earth it was built from.
