Death Valley is the hottest, driest place in the United States. It’s the second hottest place in the world. It’s the kind of hot that leaves one perpetually second guessing themselves, the heat not only felt but also seen and heard, an endless hum barely audible, it’s source impossible to discern; a sight that distorts everything beyond and within it to the point that for the residents of death valley, the heat is something that inhabits them, something to be looked through, something that can never be seen past, a lens that never fully brings the world into focus. The altitude only exasperates the situation, the lower the altitude, the greater the air pressure, the greater the air pressure, the greater the propensity for high temperatures. Parts of Death Valley are below sea level, in fact, Death Valley was once a sea of sorts. 10,000 years ago, a sea surrounded by land; this was before Death Valley died, before the naming of things. Before before.