The Book of Yaak: Yaak Valley Church
It is a windy day in mid-August 1994, and nearly all the inhabitants of Yaak have gathered in the log church that doubles as our community center. We’ve had bake sales in this place and we’ve voted here. Today an army officer, heavyset and dressed in camouflage, is here to tell us how to keep from burning to death. Outside, copper-colored smoke and sunlight blend into a fog that won’t go away. The air feels heavy around us as the lead apron that you used to wear during X-rays. (140)
Rick Bass. The Book of Yaak. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1996.