Among the turgid rocks of the Painted Desert at sunrise.
I summited a nearby boulder and stood proudly, surveyed the surroundings. I am no Shackleton or Hillary, but for a moment, it felt as if I had discovered a new world.
It was new to me, at least.
Suddenly, a gust of wind pushed me off balance, as if by otherworldly intervention. I steadied myself and listened as the wind pushed its way through the volcanic stone. The faint whistles and shrieks emerged around me like souls trying fruitlessly to escape hell. Something was announcing who had been and always will be of the land.
I smiled as I steadied myself.