What, in nature,” Kit asked, “is the most beautiful thing you’ve seen? Or the most terrible?””The Dismals,” Giles answered promptly. “A beautiful aberration in the lay of the land–North Alabama. A section mysteriously lowered, strewn with boulders, ferny, mossy, cooler–the vegetation, they say, typical of Canada. There the creek runs clear, but all other Alabama rivers and waterways are muddy with sediment. I even like the name–the Dismals. An eternal place, disjunct with the climate, the time, and its location.””You think being dismal is an attractive association with eternity?” I asked.”It is a cool Eden in the Southern summer heat. What’s yours, Una?””The Kentucky hills in spring. Layers of pink and white–redbud and dogwood.””And you?” Giles asked Kit.”Stars,” he said. That was all.

What, in nature,” Kit asked, “is the most beautiful thing you’ve seen? Or the most terrible?””The Dismals,” Giles answered promptly. “A beautiful aberration in the lay of the land–North Alabama. A section mysteriously lowered, strewn with boulders, ferny, mossy, cooler–the vegetation, they say, typical of Canada. There the creek runs clear, but all other Alabama rivers and waterways are muddy with sediment. I even like the name–the Dismals. An eternal place, disjunct with the climate, the time, and its location.””You think being dismal is an attractive association with eternity?” I asked.”It is a cool Eden in the Southern summer heat. What’s yours, Una?””The Kentucky hills in spring. Layers of pink and white–redbud and dogwood.””And you?” Giles asked Kit.”Stars,” he said. That was all.

– Sena Jeter Naslund –

Ahab’s Wife

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