In other places the water was much hotter. It burst from the earth looking for air. It dispersed and settled along cool mud and ragged rocks. It attracted the eyes of passersby but went wherever the breeze took it.The Earth was young in these parts, still active, yet I felt old and still. It took my eye some time to get used to the process of distinguishing gradations of gray.
I thought of being back home and walking through the business district downtown at dusk or the hours before sunrise. Sometimes, when the snow was falling, there would be a white layer, almost translucent, dusting above the muddled sludge of days past. People would walk, but they were fewer than usual: each one could be counted. They would be going somewhere, surely, I thought, perhaps by habit.
It was a bit like that, yet very different. It took my mind some time to get used to.
Meanwhile, the breeze dragged semi-clouds past my feet.
