Chocolat - Pg 146

The first green of the spring corn gives the land a mellower look than you and I are used to. At a distance it seems lush--a few early drones stitch the air above its swaying, giving the fields a somnolent appearance. But we know that in two months' time all this will be burned to stubble by the sun, the earth bared and cracked to a red glaze through which even the thistles are reluctant to grow. A hot wind scours what is left of the country, bringing with it drought, and in its wake a stinking stillness.