I hopped over a pair of the ash-filled streams, so contaminated that the clear water of my childhood had become an opaque gray. The air wasn't much better but it was getting clearer. The sun behind the smoky sky was still such an angry red that I could fe…

I stood on the bank and cast my line. A shining green and gold bass took my bait and flashed its scales just below the surface as I reeled him in.

Excited, I pulled him up to examine my catch. Each scale iridescent in the sun, it flapped its tail with po…