Maybe you can imagine what effect a view like this might have on a kid. And if you can, then maybe you can imagine how easily it pulls the adult who used to be that kid back into that same mood. A yearning, a sense of what’s up ahead, a weird modulation of perspective. That I caught this photo with just that one lone walker was serendipity. There was no plan to it, and if I remember correctly, I was annoyed that they were there when I shot the photo. But now I think the walker makes the photo. 

That walker feels like me. 

As a kid, looking ahead to my life, I thought I would’ve made it to the oasis by now. It turns out, I’m still not there, still hunched against the wind, hands in my pockets, putting one foot in front of the other.