Mostly Harmless

In The Badlands

Disclaimer

I went for a walk around the lake this afternoon, to rest my eyes after accidentally pointing them at a perl program. Throughout I was observed by the heron, who seems rather fat and complacent these days. The water was conspicuously devoid of fish.

Because that hadn't taken long I pushed on into the undergrowth behind the Lake. I began to feel strangely exposed and self-conscious. Apart from a couple of people on the canteen patio, sipping cappuccinos and poring over spreadsheets, I was  quite alone. I think I began to imagine my colleagues congregating invisibly behind the huge office plate-glass windows, which reflected only sky in my direction. They would be murmuring to each other "What is he doing?" - "He has reached the birch copse!" - "Does he have enough oxygen to make it back safely?".

They would perhaps speculate that I was on some obscure mission - possibly religious. Maybe I was burying the secret of how to write a complete webserver in three lines of awk, for a future in which people would once again revere such things. When I finally disappeared from view they would disperse again to today's hot desks with furrowed brows and an inkling of disquiet.

What I did discover in the dark continent between the Lake and the Lost City of Building 4 was a very good blackberry bush. It always seems to be the smaller blackberries on the harder-to-reach bushes which taste the best.  

Posted at 01:12AM Aug 13, 2008 by John Alderson in Lake Guillemont  |  Comments[2]