(November 12, 2009)
I am perched on a rock outcropping, in the center of a still pool. Just up the road a crowd has gathered at another site, but they are unaware of my presence or the location of the pond. Humans are not allowed to touch the water. It is pure, and it would become contaminated. The water is completely clear but I cannot see to the bottom. If I fell in, I would drown in the very deep well.
Suddenly, a brown bird, what I take for a crane or a heron, flies to the pool. It lands on a submerged boulder and looks right at me with a very intelligent, human eye.