Seeing Chernobyl

We live in a time that privileges the immediacy of the present, and tends to let go of the past pretty quickly. But this morning I visited a place — on the web — that brought back a whole host of memories, and also introduced me to images I’ve never seen or thought about before. It’s a site that is a loosely strung together set of photos (with accompanying commentary) taken in current day Chernobyl by a young woman who has access to the site through her nuclear physicist father. She’s also a motorcyclist who loves to ride full throttle —and the ghost town which is now Chernobyl gives her room to do that. When I think of ghost towns, I usually think of old towns in the west, from long ago and far way, towns that have receded into cultural myth. This is a ghost town of recent creation, and it is a stark testament to the enormous danger we still live in, in a world that uses nuclear power so blithely, and in which terrorists increasingly have access to nuclear weapons. We need to visit this site, and pray for peace and environmental recovery!