,,,,^††%##                                          ##%††^,,,,
,^~††%#@##                                          ##@#%††~^,
,^~†%#@###                                          ###@#%†~^,
,,,,^††%@@                                          @@%††^,,,,
,^~††%#@##                                          ##@#%††~^,
,^~††††#@#             ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,             #@#††††~^,
,^~†††%###             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.               ####%††~^,
,^~††%#@##                                          ##@#%††~^,
,,,,^††%#@ cross it  to  get to the ocean, or don't @#%††^,,,,
,,^^†††#@@          to stay where you are.          @@#†††^^,,
,,,,~†††%@                                          @%†††~,,,,
,^~††%#@##                                          ##@#%††~^,
,^~††%#@##                                          ##@#%††~^,
,,,,,~†%@#                                          #@%†~,,,,,
,^~††††%@#                                          #@%††††~^,
,^^^††%###                                          ###%††^^^,