January 10, 2005

We are stationed at the Haditha Dam again for a few days, and though it smells like sulfur, still, the reservoir is the blue of sapphires and is showing whitecaps, and I like it.

The stairwell down to our berthing is dark, dark enough that I can imagine the next step leading nowhere at all. In the calm darkness, with something between hearing and touch, I can sense the dam under and around me. This must be what Jonah felt like. Unfortunately, I have no message from God.

I’m in a state of shock, having finished Gravity’s Rainbow. It was ridiculously difficult, but extremely rewarding, and I’m glad to have read it. I at once want to reread it and want to throw it into the reservoir. It’d be nice to have someone with whom to talk about it.

My hands smell like cordite.