A River Runs Through It

"If there is one single feature that separates Baghdad from the rest of this hellish desert it is the sinewy curves of the Tigris River. There are no promenades along its shores, just a sharp band of grey, rough hewn rock separating burnt soil from cool water. In the areas where the sand flows into the river you will see the most obvious works of man - the lithe curves of wooden boats and the artless shimmer of mass produced aluminum runabouts. Although the shores are dozens of degrees cooler then the hive of Baghdad’s neighborhoods the supercharged sun still beats its bright hammer on the boats – all of them have the same withered look you see on the cars shuttling around the rivers of asphalt."
365 and a Wakeup