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Sweet Potatoes and Sugary Tea for Breakfast
 
Then we retired to our tents, and the sounds of the valley came to us one by one in syncopated layers. The clopping of goat hooves against the rocks, the tumbling stones, the heavy flapping of vulture wings, the careful footsteps of men wandering the trails, the somber bleating of baby sheep, the croaking of insects, the whistling of distant birds, the wind easing through the palm fronds, the dates trickling down from the trees, the rhythm of our breathing as we stirred.
 
Matt Savage

 

Take the Train
 
All aboard! Step right up. Don't undress. Keep your shoes and belt on. No need to fill the gas tank. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the views of farm gate, grassland, and mountain gorge. Roll across the land of Teddy Roosevelt and Woody Guthrie on routes shaped by Native Americans' seasonal migrations, by Black currents flowing north and west, by the needs of industries dependent on these very rails for existence. America isn't a fly-over or drive-by: This land was made for you and me. Admire its vistas from the observation car.
 
Ann Starr