Seventh Inning Stretch

I guess it's a form of simile. 7th inning stretch may refer specifically to baseball, but it is July, the seventh month of the year, and the shadows are stretched across the entirety of the canyon mouth above the dam and are racing up the mountainsides across the way. I'm not sure if it was still the 6:00 hour, or if it had crossed the boundary of seven o'clock by the time i reached this overlook. Taking a moment, i watched the shadow work on the furrows it has taken generations to scratch into the slopes of nearby ridges, and examined a much smaller fissure at my feet, discovered a pair of safety glasses, and contributed to the rusty pieces collection (the rusty / dusty rod at my foot).

Those three jokers are always somewhere along the base of the dam, their local hang our, i guess. Mostly they just seem to hang out; i'm unable to decipher their conversation, but suspect it has to do with something other than the daily summer heat.

"...There was fear in the pit of my heart

There was desert as far as the eye could see

Blistering, dusty, and hard

I trusted you in desperation

I said heaven forbid this place

It's hotter than hell and i'm loosing my cool

It's just not in the human race...

Sippery sand in the back of my throat, silica in my eyes

Pretty soon this will be another bad dream if we make it

To the other side

If we make it..."

(Nancy Lamoureaux Wilson, Ann Wilson Dustin, and Benjamin Mink)