Garden

Outside the elementary school the class of 2023 planted a garden. The plaque commemorating this noted the students’ fundraising to purchase southwest flora, plants that were built to survive the climate. 

Walking past it now, the flower beds are dusty and brown, the plants within them withered and parched. One succulent has grown large, and the rest look ready to blow away in the next gust of wind.

No. 156

Thermal Misalignment

Extreme heat threatens the 10-year-old tracks. Steel expands and bulges out, damages the surrounding concrete, misaligns the rails. A water truck runs along either track, spraying gallons of water to cool the hot metal. As transit riders wait in the shade and watch the road transition from dark to light as the water evaporates.

No. 153