In the Distance

by Hernan Diaz

Knowing nature, Lorimer would often say, means learning how to be. And to achieve this, we must listen to the constant sermon of things. Our highest task is to make out its words to better partake in the ecstasy of existence.

Through countless frosts and thaws, he walked in circles wider than nations.

Silence and solitude had clouded his perception of time. A year and an instant are equivalent in a monotonous life.

Nothing left behind in the wilderness could ever be retrieved. Every encounter was final. Nobody came back from beyond the horizon. It was impossible to return to anything or anyone. Whatever was out of sight was forever lost.