from “Perfume River”:
The intermittent cortege of sand-loaded sampans had a cumulative effect on me. Beyond their visual interest they began to take on a certain weight of some transcendent enormity being somewhere built or buried. Perhaps both at the same time. Eventually, we came to a spot of hillside where the lush green of palms and banana trees had been peeled away to reveal the source of sand, a large portion of the hill already gone, several dozen men incessantly shoveling sand onto waiting boats.
pea river journal 
A good read. Would love to see more!
Thank you, Don. The full story will be published in February. We love its lush detail.