...^~††%¤@                                          @¤%††~^...
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.....^~††%                                          %††~^.....
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........^~             ................             ~^........
.........^             THE ALVAR FIELDS             ^.........
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........^~ 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.          ††~^......
.......^~†                                          †~^.......
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