Fuel for Thought

In The Distance

Much like the sand in an hourglass, the desert miles slip past. As the scrub brush, tumbleweed and cacti endlessly mark the passage of the journey's past, present and future miles, the four elements, save one, surround you. Earth beneath the wheels with which this tarmac is laid goes all the way to the rusty Iron colored mountainous horizon. The Wind seems to be ever present, swaying the truck hither and yon. Fire rains down from the sun across the sky where the few clouds provide no reprieve. The dry creek beds and evaporated streams remind you of the lack of Water in the desolate region. Although there seems to be a dearth of life here, somehow you know there is life amidst the dry, still scenery around you.
Far in the distance there appears an unnatural formation, just off the road in the rocky, sandy soil. The earth rarely produces such a rectangular shape naturally, so there must be something man-made ahead. As the time and miles continue to pass away, the rectangular object begins to grow in size and take shape. Amid the vast emptiness of the landscape, the solitary shape begins to resemble a small building. Quite alone. Very foreboding. Singularly silent.
How many miles have you waited for this object to come into full view? How long has it been in sight? The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle says we can never know with perfect accuracy.
The highway continues to bring you closer and closer to the curious sight in the distance.
Finally, you can make out the outline of the object and begin to see the familiar shape of the large windows and the unmistakable color. Although it seems uninhabited, far in the recesses of your mind, you vaguely suspect that some one or two persons may be inside. As you pass by, you notice the tracks that lead off the road and straight up the sand trail to the beige structure.
For many miles after passing the familiar site, you can see it in your mirrors slowly diminishing in size, the reverse of how it came into view on your approach.

You drive away, without stopping as you pass, wondering for the next few miles if the Bounder you just saw in such a barren place contained a couple of guys, one of which was Breaking Bad, the other having already been so. What is that in the distance? I guess I will find out soon enough.

Life is like a landscape. You live in the midst of it but can describe it only from the vantage point of distance.
-  Charles Lindbergh

See you down the road,
Greg