Living there [Horse Mesa] was like living in a natural cathedral. Waking up every morning, you walked outside and looked down at the blue lake, then up at the sandstone cliffs--those awe-inspiring layers of red and yellow rock shaped over the millennia, with dozens of black-streaked crevices that temporarily became waterfalls after rainstorms.

Mom always said people worried too much about their children. Suffering when you are young is good for you, she said. It immunized your body and your soul.

Don't you make fun of me or my children! Some babies are premature. Mine were all postmature. That's why they're so smart. Their brains had longer to develop.

Sometimes you have to get sicker before you can get better.

Too much hard luck can create a permanent meanness of spirit in any creature.

I could see why Archimedes got all excited. There was nothing finer than the feeling that came rushing through you when it clicked and you suddenly understood something that had puzzled you. It made you think it just might be possible to get a handle on this old world after all.

Horses were never wrong. They always did what they did for a reason, and it was up to you to figure it out.