Caracol

The largest Maya ruin site in Belize still contains the tallest building in the country. Absolutely amazing. Hitching your pants way up, you can hoist up one leg after another to climb it in the sun. At one point, I heard some other tourist say "Did these people do anything but build stairs?"

In Fiji before sunrise, up a volcanic sealump to see what was. The path was unclear. Vague expectations. Familiar and strange blur together until one is the other. It's the bitter yum jitter before jumping off into a place I've never been.

To Belize tomorrow with my family and a five-dollar copy of the Popol Vuh. It's been a long time since I went anywhere with 'vacation' as the admitted task. After that, the nomadism continues. I don't know what's ahead any more than I ever have. Still no more sure of what I'll do and see than usual. How long should that remain a comforting thought?

Canopy

The woven top of a forest. It's a strange blanket that might evoke anything. This one covers the coves of Savage Gulf, Tennessee. Everything possible in a forest could be under there. You can see the whole vast expanse of the trees, but not into it. Sure, forests are everywhere. But when seen from above, they're suddenly mysterious. Suggestive by concealment. Like lingerie.