This image is incorporated into “Like a Lichen” which appears in 40×41: Midlife Crisis Postponed.

Despite the unflinching march of time so much of the stonework at Machu Picchu remains structurally, aesthetically sound today. Precision. Perfection. Endurance. It’s exhausting to even contemplate the hours, the lives it took to transform a mountaintop into a sacred city. We were fortunate to visit once. I hope to return. It’s profoundly inspiring to see that some beauty improves with aging…