The poet William Blake (1757-1827) opens his “Auguries of Innocence” with these words:

“To see the world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.”

Blake is speaking of symbolic meanings that reside in details. In this image, I also speak of detail as symbol. Only my details live in the textures revealed by the angle of the light, my choice of exposure, and my close-up camera position. A heavy coating of sand covers much of a sandstone slab – yet it is the array of rhythmically repeating textured ridges of stone that draws the eye and provides a contrasting texture to the flowing sand. Heavy shadows cast by nearby rocks enclose the scene, creating a gradually expanding flow of sand that begins at upper right and moves diagonally to the lower left. This textures in this image encourages us to see what we might not ordinarily see, and think about things we might not ordinarily consider: the eroding forces of wind, weather and water upon the earth, and the residue of time itself. These textures make us see, think, and perhaps even feel the hand of nature upon the earth.