What if I were sitting on a vast lawn that was so green and the air so humid I felt the world to be wet, if across the street a church clock was chiming the hours.

What if the square were sleepy, nearly-empty. What if my daily business were calm and done with great care.

There is such a place, there are such things,

Yet here I am. And somewhere there are drowsy fields, like those I wandered through twelve years ago from the beginning of summer to its very end, grasshoppers clinging to me. Believe me, I am doing all I can to make life beautiful.