Rusted metal and twisted gears, but still kinda cheery - he limps around the junkyard helping other contraptions to better themselves.

A dark bird is flying, testing the cold air just before spring. Some life might emerge from the still-frozen ground, but it might be too early to survive.

There is a stillness after destruction that is peaceful and stunning.

Start with a loose tangle. Find two ends, and start pulling them in opposite directions. Make them want different things. Force through the tangle, fight against it. Turn it into a knot, make it harder, as hard as metal. Then remember, how could metal ever become a knot? To untangle, remember where it started. With softness.

It's a strange structure, new. She moves around it tentatively, slowly assembling the pieces in her understanding and movements. It's a careful embrace, but ultimately whole and secure.

She's there to protect the spring and the lake. She moves smoothly, gracefully, arranges the moss and lilypads just so, makes sure the moonlight glints at the right angle, keeps the water clear. The problem is, she got knocked up. And her daughter, who just hit the terrible twos, is running around trying to "help".

I'm trying to drive this car, but it doesn't steer, it has no brakes, and the doors don't even open. There are wrecks all around me, cars and trucks turned upside-down, but none of them appear damaged. The traffic rules don't make any sense. And just when I think I'm getting somewhere, this giant toddler reaches down and grabs me.

It had a good run, but it'll probably turn into a swamp soon.

It's Monday night. Sunday's service went well. But it's halfway through rehearsal, the break was too short, shoulders are slumped, people are leaning back in their chairs. The sopranos are giggling about something unholy. Time to focus for one more runthrough.

We had to hack through the brush to get there. It wasn't mist that hid it, just miles of desolation and occasional thickets.