So Steve found his favorite spot on the Island--his choice was almost as arbitrary as mine, the year I was assigned to choose a favorite.
I had searched the whole Island, hiking up and down mountains, around ponds, and along streams (there really are no true rivers there), and nothing ever jumped out at me as more special than any other part, so at last I chose a spot randomly just so I wouldn't have to tell Charlie I hadn't done the assignment. And, weirdly, that spot then became my favorite. I visited it again this year, just to see how it's doing and to reconnect.
Steve wasn't searching, not exactly, for though he hiked all over the Island, too, he didn't seem worried about the assignment at all. Which was good, since the whole point of the trip was for him to stop worrying, but I worried for him, thinking that he wouldn't finish the assignment. Finally, on the last full day there, he suddenly announced "this is it. This spot is my favorite."
"This one?" I asked. "Really? Why?"
"Why not?" he answered. "It's just as nice as any other part."
So like me and yet so different.
I had assumed that if Steve's decision was arbitrary, he must not have noticed anything about his spot--the thought worried me a bit, as it seemed to defeat the purpose of the exercise, but I wasn't sure what to do about it. I was going to ask Charlie about the issue, but didn't get a chance until we got back to campus and then Charlie himself asked us to report. He didn't ask me to report when I did it--I'll have to ask him why not, this mysterious master thing is all well and good until you set yourself to become one of them and have to figure out how it's done.
Anyway, so Charlie asked us to report and we did and then he asked Steve where his spot is. Steve told him. Then he asked Steve to describe it--and to my surprise, Steve did. In perfect, glowing detail.
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