6
The way back to where I’d left The Dot tethered up took me forever. I had to endure a bleak return made with a heavy heart. It’d been a mistake to leave James at the foot of the ladder, but I reminded myself that regret is a racket and pushed on. One of the extreme weather changes was coming, so I had too much on my plate to waste energy fretting. In only a few hours the landscape hereabouts would change beyond recognition. It was a snowstorm, incredibly. I was living this stuff but never really getting used to it. I had to trek a mile or more back to The Dot through snow with a strong North wind blowing, walking sideways with my back half to the wind. The snow was falling fast. By the time I reached The Dot, snow had dusted the reeds, giving them a fine porcelain appearance. The muddy
