Knight of Cups [Reversed]

In The Mountains—DAY

The Park Ranger is giving me a tour of the state park. He says he is taking me over to see the know-it-all old country doctor, for a laugh. However, the doctor’s office looks closed so we drive past town and stop at back at the ranger station near the crest of the ridge. The crew, who had been behind have now caught up, and are now also pulling the van up to the station.

We mill around a pollution exhibit in the lobby while Park Ranger secures our permit for work in the forest. I catch Iris giving a quick kiss to the new young field technician.

Up to her old tricks. I roll my eyes.

Iris realizes everyone saw and exclaims. “Okay, Okay, you all saw it. Guess it will be on the 6 o’clock news now!”

Ugh. Enough games. The Sailor and I go outside and down to the canal for a smoke while we wait for the Park Ranger to process our paperwork.

I feel guilty that company’s old field director is dead, but I am certainly glad to have been re-hired to replace him. I tell Sailor Lou as much. And we talk about being glad to be back together doing what we should be doing. Good science in my case. Just good work in his.

As we trudge down to the muddy banks of the channel on what has turned out a gloomy afternoon, the water is rapidly dropping revealing two large white cylindrical stone structures. They must have released a dam or something further downstream for this to occur.

Hearing the rushing water, the Park Ranger runs out, sees the stones and asks us what we think the structures are. The crew has tagged along behind, and they offer up some uneducated guesses, but I feel it they must be silage of some kind.

But, as we head out unto an overlooking dock for a better look, I reach out and try to scrape off some of the river muck. More is whisked away by the low but quick moving channel. I notice that the tops of some columns are becoming visible around the stone structures’ circumference. I point them out and then point out the capitol building in the City’s skyline, which we can make out glinting in the sun on the coast far below the mountains.

“It looks a bit like the capitol’s dome, without the top.” I point out. “If anyone has ever taken a good look downtown, that is. Could there have been a stately sister building way up here at some time, or were these defective or some sort of beta versions of the capitol that they’ve dumped in the mountains?”