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-^........             THE ALVAR FIELDS             ........^-
^.........             &&&#@#@#@#@#@&&&             .........^
..........                                          ..........
.......... FROM  NORTH   TO   SOUTH,   THIRTY   ODD ..........
.......... KILOMETERS.  FROM  WEST  TO  EAST,  FOUR ..........
.......... THOUSAND METERS. FROM TOPSOIL TO  STONE, ..........
.......... A FOOT OR  TWO. NO ROOTS  CAN FESTER, NO ..........
^.........             DUST CAN LINGER.             .........^
-^........                                          ........^-
†-^....... HERE  IS  EARTH,  CLAY,  AND STURDY  LOW .......^-†
††-^...... PLANTS.  BUSHES  FRAME  THE  STRIP.  THE ......^-††
&††-^..... EARTH  IS  BARE  IN PATCHES AS  LARGE AS .....^-††&
#&††-^....                YOU AND ME.               ....^-††&#
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#£#&††-^.. CROSS IT  TO GET TO THE OCEAN,  OR DON'T ..^-††&#£#
##£#&††-^.          TO STAY WHERE YOU ARE.          .^-††&#£##
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†-^.......                                          .......^-†