There was central Oklahoma. I had never imagined that any part of a round earth could be so flat. In Kentucky you could never see too far, since there were always mountains blocking the other side of your view, and it left you the chance to think something good might be just over the next hill. But out there on the plain it was all laid out right in front of you, and no matter how far you looked it didn't get any better. Oklahoma made me feel there was nothing left to hope for. Page 12
"So how does a toad get into the middle of the desert?" I wanted to know. "Does it rain toad frogs in Arizona?"
"They're here all along, smarty. Burrowed in the ground. They wait out the dead months kind of deadlike, just like everything else, and when the rain comes they wake up and crawl out of the ground and start to holler."
I was amazed. There seemed to be no end to the things that could be hiding, waiting it out, right where you thought you could see it all. Pages 163-164
