,,«†*&&¶##                                          ##¶&&*†«,,
,,,«†*&&¶#                                          #¶&&*†«,,,
,,,,«†*&&¶                                          ¶&&*†«,,,,
,,,,,«†*&&                                          &&*†«,,,,,
,,,,,,«†*&                                          &*†«,,,,,,
,,,,,,,«†*                winds esker               *†«,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,«† «««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««« †«,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,«                                          «,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, there was this place that for  two years ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, i  couldn't  go to.  regardless how much ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, discussed  with others,  or pointed  out ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, on maps, i  could  not think of it  when ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, alone. i would  often  travel  past  the ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, fork,  where a right  turn  would surely ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, take me  there, but even then, something ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,«              kept me away.               «,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,«†                                          †«,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,«†* when  i  finally got  there,  after some *†«,,,,,,,
,,,,,,«†*&     heavy subconscious battle i must     &*†«,,,,,,
,,,,,«†*&& assume,   the  place   was  surreal.  an &&*†«,,,,,
,,,,«†*&&¶ esker,  like a needle-thin  rift out  in ¶&&*†«,,,,
,,,«†*&&¶# the  lake,  but  ten  meters   high  and #¶&&*†«,,,
,,«†*&&¶## adorned in birch, willow,  bracken,  and ##¶&&*†«,,
,,,«†*&&¶#               blueberries.               #¶&&*†«,,,
,,,,«†*&&¶                                          ¶&&*†«,,,,
,,,,,«†*&& walking  atop  that  spine,  i  came  to &&*†«,,,,,
,,,,,,«†*& notice the  view  to either  side. there &*†«,,,,,,
,,,,,,,«†* should  be  shores,  of  course,  but  i *†«,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,«† didn't  recognize them.  first off, they †«,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,« were much too close, as the  lake should «,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, stretch for  a  hundred  meters  more on ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, both  sides.  but now  i  felt  i  could ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, almost  reach out and  touch  them.  and ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, then, when i realized  which shores they ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,           were, i had to stop.           ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, they  were  of the right lake. but  this ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,«      lake is large, fractured, and       «,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,«† bipartite.  like  a pair of lungs carved †«,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,«†* into  the granite, and with no less than *†«,,,,,,,
,,,,,,«†*&   five communities anchored at various   &*†«,,,,,,
,,,,,«†*&&      points. and so, studying these      &&*†«,,,,,
,,,,«†*&&¶     impossibly close shores, i slowly    ¶&&*†«,,,,
,,,«†*&&¶# understood  them as belonging many miles #¶&&*†«,,,
,,«†*&&¶##                  away.                   ##¶&&*†«,,
,,,«†*&&¶#                                          #¶&&*†«,,,
,,,,«†*&&¶ i  examined  the  ridge,  the   treeline ¶&&*†«,,,,
,,,,,«†*&& above.  was this  what you saw opposite, &&*†«,,,,,
,,,,,,«†*& from  those  other  shores?  i  couldn't &*†«,,,,,,
,,,,,,,«†*                remember.                 *†«,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,«†                                          †«,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,« carrying forward, on  the  very  tip  of «,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, the  esker, i  found the  ruins of  some ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,    old building. there were overgrown    ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,  marble staircases, stone floors beneath ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, the  moss,  and  strange slabs  inserted ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, into  the slope  like  dams  against the ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,              ground itself.              ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,« sitting there,  i  could see across  the «,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,«† narrowed lake my entire path to where  i †«,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,«†* sat:  from  the stairwell  of my  house, *†«,,,,,,,
,,,,,,«†*& through the old  woods  behind  the tile &*†«,,,,,,
,,,,,«†*&&      factory, the bridge over route      &&*†«,,,,,
,,,,«†*&&¶ twenty three and  then  back  under  it, ¶&&*†«,,,,
,,,«†*&&¶# through   the  fancy  villas,  over  the #¶&&*†«,,,
,,«†*&&¶## fields, and then that right turn  at the ##¶&&*†«,,
,,,«†*&&¶#                   fork.                  #¶&&*†«,,,
,,,,«†*&&¶                                          ¶&&*†«,,,,
,,,,,«†*&& and  then  the stairs  up on  the ridge. &&*†«,,,,,
,,,,,,«†*& thinking  back,  this  was probably  it. &*†«,,,,,,
,,,,,,,«†* hidden  in a  grove,  there were  stairs *†«,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,«† much  like the ones  i currently sat on, †«,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,« old  and  worn down,  that lead  you  up «,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, onto the esker. the point of  entry. had ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, i insted  opted to walk the  path at its ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, foot, i'm  sure  my experience  would've ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,          been different indeed.          ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, «««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««« ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,« on  the   lake,  there  were  people  in «,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,«† boats.  i wondered, could they  even see †«,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,«†* me?  if i shouted,  would  they turn  to *†«,,,,,,,
,,,,,,«†*&         stare right through me?          &*†«,,,,,,
,,,,,«†*&&                                          &&*†«,,,,,
,,,,«†*&&¶                                          ¶&&*†«,,,,
,,,«†*&&¶#                                          #¶&&*†«,,,
,,«†*&&¶##                                          ##¶&&*†«,,
,,,«†*&&¶#                                          #¶&&*†«,,,