Whenever I've got a spare hour at my parents' place, I'll go for a walk around the block, up past the Police Academy. I'll usually stop for a while, though, under the power lines as they cross Viewmount Road. They've been there forever (and maybe they'll stay there forever, too). They hum and crackle above me, which I find comforting rather than frightening. There was one time I was walking home from the school bus in the rain, and when I walked under the power lines my umbrella started sparking a little. But only once. I suppose I should be fearing these things, like everybody else does, but there's something vaguely majestic about an arrangement of steel bars and cables, crossing the land, bringing the future to our doors.