I again saw tribes…prostrating themselves in the open desert in a chaos of women and packs and kneeling beasts. But this time the sand took the place of snow.
-Memoirs of Hadrian, Marguerite Youcenar
Lose the women and the snow and that image captures the scene at the ‘Idd Ahmed well flat when KhairAllah’s dabouka pulled in right behind Yusuf’s and Bilal’s. That made 500 camels, some limping, most growling, all dry and thirsty. We quickly unsaddled and unloaded so our riding and pack animals wouldn’t have to wait for the last buckets hauled up. At a desert well, none want the hind teat. Water, lifeblood and front seat in Dar al-Kababish. Pray for it.