This is what I've been walking on this winter when I venture off road to stroll on trail or berm. It's a strange sensation, expecting give where you don't find it.
Not unlike returning to a scenic spot of once-great beauty to find it befouled with new houses and fences.
The ground I knew — soft, fragrant, pliable — has become another rough element, something that doesn't move with me but against me. It's ground that may as well be ... pavement.