The smoke has reached you? I thought you'd be safe from that since I thought that the wildfires were a state away at least. Hmm... not the best summer if you get smoke from wildfires that aren't even your own! Plus, I hope the smoke isn't making the migraine worse :)
A return to light The sky was there, a very long way above us, with walls of rock reaching up all around. The sky ended up being a circle of blue that I could block out completely if I held up both hands side-by-side in above my head. The sunlight did fall down as far as us, though I suspect it hurt itself on the way, and it warmed a little, but not that much. The golden glow however came from the sunlight bouncing off and around the golden houses and buildings that filled the caldera in front of us. "El Dorado," said Jimmy, sounding awed. I glanced at him; his mouth was hanging open and his eyes were staring, and I had to resist the temptation to put my hand under his jaw and close his mouth for him. "It really exists." "Either that or there's a lot of yellow paint up here," said Ben. "Down here," I said, pointing at the blue circle a long way above us. As we looked around we saw that there were streets, though they seemed to be paved with stone and not gold, and eventually Ben spotted the river sneaking out of a tunnel almost directly below us and then clinging to the side of the caldera, going half-way round. The buildings got in the way, but he and I were pretty much certain that we'd find a dock or a wharf of some kind over there. "If we'd brought the balloon we could have loaded it up and just floated out," said Ben. He sounded slightly wistful. "We'd have to have brought the burros, then," said Jimmy. "I'm not carrying that basket, nor the gas tank, all the way through those caves." "They could make it through," said Ben. "What do you think, Red? We go back, get the burros and the balloon, pick up some small items that have been left unattended and no longer have rightful owners and then fly out of here?" It was tempting, and I liked the way that when we took off we were pretty much guaranteed a peaceful departure: no screaming wives, no bellowing husbands and no furious aldermen demanding reparations for their civic pride. "Let's see what's in here first," I said. "Wouldn't be clever to go all the way back, get that stuff, then find out it is just yellow-painted rock and there's just good fishing in these waters." "We still haven't seen a boat," said Jimmy. "Isn't that odd? I mean, where is it if it's not on the river somewhere?" "Could be that we walked past it in those caves," said Ben. "River disappeared plenty of times for us." I nodded agreement, but truthfully I was thinking more along the lines of Jimmy. Where was the boat and the people who clearly knew all about this place and most likely wanted to keep it a secret? There were, unsurprisingly, steps hacked into the rock here, so we descended some ancient, worn treads down to the base of the caldera. There were maybe sixty steps; I was counting in case we needed to run out of here again in a hurry. I figured Ben and I could cover sixty without slowing, and Jimmy was young so he ought to be able to. Then we were amongst the golden buildings of El Dorado.
Greg - well there are some in Washington, directly to the south of us, but most of the smoke covering... most of western Canada is from the California fires, sadly. Apparently it even reached Ontario at its peak.
And quite a few people seem to be getting headaches, so I suspect the smoke is at least a contributing factor.
Ah, El Dorado at last. I too am curious about its residents and their whereabouts. And the boat. And what the lads are about to encounter.
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The smoke has reached you? I thought you'd be safe from that since I thought that the wildfires were a state away at least. Hmm... not the best summer if you get smoke from wildfires that aren't even your own!
Plus, I hope the smoke isn't making the migraine worse :)
A return to light
The sky was there, a very long way above us, with walls of rock reaching up all around. The sky ended up being a circle of blue that I could block out completely if I held up both hands side-by-side in above my head. The sunlight did fall down as far as us, though I suspect it hurt itself on the way, and it warmed a little, but not that much. The golden glow however came from the sunlight bouncing off and around the golden houses and buildings that filled the caldera in front of us.
"El Dorado," said Jimmy, sounding awed. I glanced at him; his mouth was hanging open and his eyes were staring, and I had to resist the temptation to put my hand under his jaw and close his mouth for him. "It really exists."
"Either that or there's a lot of yellow paint up here," said Ben.
"Down here," I said, pointing at the blue circle a long way above us.
As we looked around we saw that there were streets, though they seemed to be paved with stone and not gold, and eventually Ben spotted the river sneaking out of a tunnel almost directly below us and then clinging to the side of the caldera, going half-way round. The buildings got in the way, but he and I were pretty much certain that we'd find a dock or a wharf of some kind over there.
"If we'd brought the balloon we could have loaded it up and just floated out," said Ben. He sounded slightly wistful.
"We'd have to have brought the burros, then," said Jimmy. "I'm not carrying that basket, nor the gas tank, all the way through those caves."
"They could make it through," said Ben. "What do you think, Red? We go back, get the burros and the balloon, pick up some small items that have been left unattended and no longer have rightful owners and then fly out of here?"
It was tempting, and I liked the way that when we took off we were pretty much guaranteed a peaceful departure: no screaming wives, no bellowing husbands and no furious aldermen demanding reparations for their civic pride.
"Let's see what's in here first," I said. "Wouldn't be clever to go all the way back, get that stuff, then find out it is just yellow-painted rock and there's just good fishing in these waters."
"We still haven't seen a boat," said Jimmy. "Isn't that odd? I mean, where is it if it's not on the river somewhere?"
"Could be that we walked past it in those caves," said Ben. "River disappeared plenty of times for us." I nodded agreement, but truthfully I was thinking more along the lines of Jimmy. Where was the boat and the people who clearly knew all about this place and most likely wanted to keep it a secret?
There were, unsurprisingly, steps hacked into the rock here, so we descended some ancient, worn treads down to the base of the caldera. There were maybe sixty steps; I was counting in case we needed to run out of here again in a hurry. I figured Ben and I could cover sixty without slowing, and Jimmy was young so he ought to be able to. Then we were amongst the golden buildings of El Dorado.
Greg - well there are some in Washington, directly to the south of us, but most of the smoke covering... most of western Canada is from the California fires, sadly. Apparently it even reached Ontario at its peak.
And quite a few people seem to be getting headaches, so I suspect the smoke is at least a contributing factor.
Ah, El Dorado at last. I too am curious about its residents and their whereabouts. And the boat. And what the lads are about to encounter.
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