PHYSICAL
Carter Beaumont has been a tour guide for twenty-three years and has never seen anything like this. On schedule – as it always is - Old Faithful erupts in a tall, columned fountain. Only this upsurge is black and thick, like the missing plague. It continues for several minutes before one of the tourists, a young girl wearing a pink plastic visor, asks if this is normal. Carter isn’t sure what to say. He tells her it has to do with alluvial build-up. After the tour has finished, he goes to notify Mr. Kubus.
IDEOLOGICAL
Mr. Kubus, the park director, has a face like an inverted pyramid. He is rolling a marble by his ear as if listening for some long-held secret. His feet are up on the desk and he nods like he understands. Carter leaves, and Mr. Kubus makes some calls.
FINANCIAL
A silver fleet of Pri-i come racing across the Wyoming landscape. Carter stands outside of Mr. Kubus’s cabin. He hears the squealing hinges of briefcases and jargon-filled back-and-forth. They talk about senators and departments and Mr. Kubus’s annual report to the USFS. Carter doesn’t know what it all means. Then he hears the scrambling of paper and Mr. Kubus’ marble hit the ground with a hard, metallic bump.
CONCEPTUAL
Mr. Kubus buys a villa in Tuscany. He’s been talking about Italy for years, even keeping a map of the old boot behind his desk. From his house, Carter watches the derricks teeter up and down like one long, hulking chain gang. His application at Yosemite is processing. Until then he watches the derricks silhouetted against the dark skyline. According to the commercials, they’re powered by wind energy – they’re “a new generation in derrick”. If he squints, he thinks he can see the small pinwheels, like bows in their steel gray hair.
Carter Beaumont has been a tour guide for twenty-three years and has never seen anything like this. On schedule – as it always is - Old Faithful erupts in a tall, columned fountain. Only this upsurge is black and thick, like the missing plague. It continues for several minutes before one of the tourists, a young girl wearing a pink plastic visor, asks if this is normal. Carter isn’t sure what to say. He tells her it has to do with alluvial build-up. After the tour has finished, he goes to notify Mr. Kubus.
IDEOLOGICAL
Mr. Kubus, the park director, has a face like an inverted pyramid. He is rolling a marble by his ear as if listening for some long-held secret. His feet are up on the desk and he nods like he understands. Carter leaves, and Mr. Kubus makes some calls.
FINANCIAL
A silver fleet of Pri-i come racing across the Wyoming landscape. Carter stands outside of Mr. Kubus’s cabin. He hears the squealing hinges of briefcases and jargon-filled back-and-forth. They talk about senators and departments and Mr. Kubus’s annual report to the USFS. Carter doesn’t know what it all means. Then he hears the scrambling of paper and Mr. Kubus’ marble hit the ground with a hard, metallic bump.
CONCEPTUAL
Mr. Kubus buys a villa in Tuscany. He’s been talking about Italy for years, even keeping a map of the old boot behind his desk. From his house, Carter watches the derricks teeter up and down like one long, hulking chain gang. His application at Yosemite is processing. Until then he watches the derricks silhouetted against the dark skyline. According to the commercials, they’re powered by wind energy – they’re “a new generation in derrick”. If he squints, he thinks he can see the small pinwheels, like bows in their steel gray hair.
