There are few things quieter than an open field on a Saturday morning, and fewer still that disturb it more efficiently than a body. Such was the improvement reported near Estates Road and East Patrician Drive, where a citizen, minding his own business, discovered that someone else had stopped minding theirs entirely.
The deputies arrived just after ten o’clock and confirmed what the gentleman in the grass had already suggested, namely, that he had finished with earthly obligations. Detectives were summoned, as is the custom when a man refuses to explain himself, and the field, which had previously minded its own affairs, became a place of interest.
Now, modern governance has a remarkable talent for turning silence into paperwork. A man can lie in a field without saying a word, and before noontime, he has generated reports, dispatch logs, and a request for tips from the public. It is the most industrious he will be all day.
The Sheriff’s Office has asked anyone with information to come forward, which is a hopeful enterprise. Information is a shy creature; it prefers to stay home unless properly invited. Still, there is always the chance that someone saw something, or at least believes they did after sufficient reflection.
No cause has yet been offered, and speculation is left wisely to those who enjoy being wrong in public. In such matters, the facts take their time, while theories arrive early and leave embarrassed.
There is a lesson here, though it is not a cheerful one. Civilization depends less on grand speeches than on the simple understanding that men ought not to end up in fields without explanation.
When they do, the rest of us are left to wonder what went wrong, and whether it might come wandering our way next. Until then, the field will return to its ordinary duties, growing weeds, hosting wind, and keeping its secrets.
Meanwhile, the county conducts its investigation, and the public finds itself reminded that even the quietest places occasionally have something to say, though they say it poorly.
The Old Blog in the Desert 
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