........., ,.........
.......... ..........
........., ,.........
........,= =,........
.......,=\ \=,.......
......,=\% 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? #§£%\=,...
....,=\%£§ §£%\=,....
.....,=\%£ £%\=,.....
......,=\% %\=,......
.......,=\ \=,.......
........,= =,........