February 1492, more than twenty miles west of the city of Granada, on the banks of the Genil River.
The mountains of Granada, towering and continuous on the north and south sides, block the cold winds from the north heading southward. The long Genil River, like a blue jade belt, flows through the gray-yellow arid land. The canals, maintained by the Moors for hundreds of years, are laid out one after another along the east-west flowing river, like roots extending from the blue main trunk. And at the extension of these blue roots is a captivating green. These ancient orchards and farmlands still bear the mark of fertility, as if they had existed continuously from the time of Carthage two thousand years ago to today.
