AtDDtA(15): On the Move Again

[Dave Monroe]

   "But that was the beginning of a certain release from longing, as
if they had been living in a remote valley [...] and next thing
anybody knew, they were on the move again in a world scarcely
different from the one they had left.  And one day, at the edge of one
of these towns, sky-ready, brightwork gleaming, newly painted and
refited and around the corner of a gigantic hangar, waiting for them,
as if they had never been away, was their ship the good old
Inconvenience.  And Pugnax with his paws up on the quarterdeck rail,
tail going a mile a minute, barking with unrestrained joy.
   "Somewhere the Trespassers went on about their old toxic business,
but by now the crew of the Inconvenience [...] were somehow able to
avoid them, to warn others of possible mischief, even now and then to
take steps in opposition.  Failed experimental casseroles from Miles'
galley [...] seemed effective, as well as prank telphone calls to
paving contractors [...]" (AtD, Pt. II, p. 424)


"a certain release from longing"

How so?  Help!


isotropy

Main Entry: iso·tro·pic
Pronunciation: \ˌī-sə-ˈtrō-pik, -ˈträ-\
Function: adjective
Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary
Date: 1856
: exhibiting properties (as velocity of light transmission) with the
same values when measured along axes in all directions <an isotropic
crystal>
— isot·ro·py  \ī-ˈsä-trə-pē\ noun

http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/


"a world scarcely different from the one they had left"

Cf. ...

"If it is not the world, it is what the world might be with a minor
adjustment or two. According to some, this is one of the main purposes
of fiction."

http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/thomaspynchon/

http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9781594201202,00.html

http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Against_the_Day


"toxic business," "experimental casseroles," "large volumes of cement"

http://www.nrc.gov/waste.html ?