Pictures

I have a little sister who will crawl into my lap and show me her tiny lavender-scented pillow and the ribbon around her stuffed lamb's neck. She grins at me from the table, and in a moment of silence exclaims that we are not very good at being silent.

I work on a farm, where eight overgrown piglets swarm around my feet as I come in with a bucket of feed. I sweep and shovel muck and hay with an incredibly helpful student who listens to every word I say but shares none in return.

I throw one vegetable, then another into a dish, a celeriac, a kohlrabi, and why not just add a butternut squash into the mix? The last dregs from the shed until the new vegetable order arrives. With some frozen peas and beans they make a fine vegetable crumble for a crowd.

Under a fluorescent glow of light forcing its way between the night and the barn, I witnessed a hug between two people whose verbal skills far surpass their ability to modulate their language. After a bitter fight, and with a degree of uncertainty, they decide to make up.

Warmed by the fire on the hearth, I wind stitches on a knitting needle, then slowly go through the motions, saying simple catch-phrases that are easy to remember. I have not knitted in years, but it's all she needs to start knitting a scarf for her boyfriend. While Christmas is still on her mind, she is planning for the next one coming.

He has such bright eyes, but hardly a word that I can understand, but I know he's happy to meet me. We "low-fived" before lunch.

I found a dime on the floor today; it was bearing the Queen's face.