Above the Valley

Polly came in low through the Merced canyon, her red-orange head turned into a wind that smelled of pine and granite. Below her the valley opened. Tall cliffs on both sides. A river the colour of grey metal. A long green floor.

Polly je nisko letjela kroz kanjon Merced, njezina crveno-narančasta glava okrenuta prema vjetru koji je mirisao na bor i granit. Ispod nje dolina se otvorila. Visoke litice s obje strane. Rijeka boje sivog metala. Duga zelena ravnica.

She climbed and turned. From the air, Yosemite Valley looked like a giant U cut out of stone. That was almost right. Twenty thousand years ago, a sheet of ice a kilometre thick had pushed through here. It pulled blocks of granite off the walls and ground the floor flat.

Usponila se i okrenula. Iz zraka, dolina Yosemite izgledala je kao golemi U izrezan iz kamena. To je gotovo bilo točno. Prije dvadeset tisuća godina, ovdje je prolazio ledeni pokrivač debeo kilometar. Odlomio je blokove granita sa zidova i izravnao tlo.

She flew toward El Capitan. The wall was nine hundred metres of pale grey rock, almost straight up. Two tiny dots of colour were stuck to the face. Climbers. They had been there two days. They would be there two more.

Letjela je prema El Capitanu. Zid je bio devetsto metara blijedosive stijene, gotovo okomit. Dvije sitne točkice boje bile su pričvršćene za lice. Penjači. Tamo su već dva dana. Bit će tamo još dva.

Polly perched on a pine at the rim. The needles smelled of butterscotch in the sun. She could see the climbers better now. They moved one careful motion at a time. Neither of them looked down.

Polly se smjestila na bor na rubu. Igle su mirisale na karamelu na suncu. Sada je bolje vidjela penjače. Kretali su se pažljivo, jedan pokret u isto vrijeme. Nitko od njih nije gledao dolje.

A ranger's truck climbed the road below. Polly thought: the best way to learn a park is from the seat of a working ranger.

Kamion čuvara parka penjao se cestom ispod. Polly je pomislila: najbolji način za upoznati park je iz sjedala radnog čuvara.

She flew down the south rim, slow. A turkey vulture rose past her on a warm air current without flapping once. Polly straightened her glasses against the wind and watched the vulture climb.

Polako je letjela niz južni rub. Puranski lešinar prošao je pored nje na toplom zraku bez da je jednom zamahnuo krilima. Polly je ispravila naočale protiv vjetra i gledala lešinara kako se penje.

At the valley floor, the air was warm and dim under the trees. She landed on a fallen pine. It was two metres across at its base. It had fallen long ago. Moss was already growing on it.

Na dnu doline, zrak je bio topao i taman ispod drveća. Sletjela je na srušeni bor. Bio je širok dva metra u podnožju. Pao je davno. Mahovina je već rasla na njemu.

The Merced River ran past, brown with spring melt. Polly hopped down and put her yellow feet in the cold sand at its edge. The water made her toes ache.

Rijeka Merced tekla je pored, smeđa od proljetnog topljenja. Polly je skočila dolje i stavila svoje žute noge u hladni pijesak na rubu. Voda je činila da joj prsti bole.

A park sign read SHUTTLE TO VISITOR CENTER. Polly stretched her blue-teal wings and flew to the shuttle stop.

Znak parka je pisao: SHUTTLE DO CENTRA ZA POSJETITELJE. Polly je ispružila svoja plavo-zelenkasta krila i odletjela do stanice za shuttle.

The shuttle was a long green bus. A woman in a brown uniform was the driver. "You riding?" she asked. Polly tilted her head. The woman opened the door.

Shuttle je bio dugi zeleni autobus. Žena u smeđoj uniformi bila je vozačica. "Voziš se?" upitala je. Polly je nagnula glavu. Žena je otvorila vrata.

Polly hopped to a railing inside. The bus rolled. Outside, El Capitan turned slowly past the windows. The driver said, "Last stop." Polly tucked her head under her wing and slept.

Polly je skočila na ogradu unutra. Autobus je krenuo. Vani, El Capitan se polako okretao pored prozora. Vozačica je rekla: "Zadnja stanica." Polly je uvukla glavu pod krilo i zaspala.