"I gazed blankly out of the window, trying to concentrate on the blue sky, clay-colored earth, and green grass, which in Minnesota would already be covered by ice and snow."
"If you experience sweating, chills, fever, yellow skin, or clay-colored bowel movements, see your caregiver immediately."
"Pollution smudged the horizon; the train station lay ragged and busy beneath him; kids sold sesame buns between cars; street sweepers whisked the curbs; and clay-colored mosques stood in the distance beyond the cemeteries in a district called the City of the Dead."