Riding his mountain bike down past the ball field, toward the river, he passed some twisted hunks of rusty steel that had once been cars. He wondered whether they'd somehow been washed down to this point during a flash flood, or whether they'd gotten stuck in this sand, abandoned because there was no way to rescue them. He'd seen several such river cars, and the thought occurred that maybe the river is simply the accepted final resting place of automobiles too tired and broken to continue. Riding in the soft sand was extremely difficult, but above the sound of his own hard breathing, he could hear the sound of the river in the distance. Answering the invitation addressed to his ears, he found this cool and peaceful oasis. Even though the litter in the water and oil slick at the bank nagged at his sense of order, he still found that place in his soul that could fully appreciate the energetic peacefulness of the setting.

Continuing upstream, he noticed the duck enter from stage right, waddling through the water that was too shallow and swift for proper duckly locomotion. The bird plopped himself into the pool, his most comfortable element, and swiftly paddled off to the rushes.

He wondered how far into the hill the cave extended, but didn't have the time, energy, or a bike lock to be able to satisfy his curiosity.

A large field of saguaro cactus on the side of a hill, lost in the foreground of the ubiquitary litter.

The awe inspiring end to a day filled with discovery.