Clovis, New Mexico, 61 degrees F

The land appears flat and featureless as far as the eye can see. The road stretches as straight and empty ahead of us as it does in our rear view mirror, a line connecting two points from horizon to horizon. It makes the sky look huge, ocular, and crystal blue, with only a few filmy clouds lying to the north and south parallel to the ground to make the sky look even more wide. Although the land appears to be flat, it actually rolls gently, and jumps up to meet the huge domed sky, forming a bowl of sandy yellow land that looks smaller than more places despite its desperate isolation.