#%†....... .......†%#
####%††-.. ..-††%####
####%††-.. ..-††%####
####%††-.. ..-††%####
####%††-.. ..-††%####
##%%%††-.. ................ ..-††%%%##
##%†---... 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. ....--†###
####%††-.. ..-††%####
####%††-.. ..-††%####
#†--...... ......--†#
####%††-.. ..-††%####
##†-...... ......-†##
####%††-.. ..-††%####