You will remember when a bird crashed through the window and fell to the floor. You will remember, those of you who were there, how it jerked its wings before dying, and left a spot of blood on the floor after it was removed. But who among you was first to notice the negative bird it left in the window? Who first saw the shadow that the bird left behind, the shadow that drew blood from any finger that dared to trace it, the shadow that was better proof of the bird's existence than the bird ever was?

It's rarely talked about, but hunting for sport is just about as vile as we humans get.

The animals are those things that God likes but doesn't love.

She laughed enough to migrate an entire flock of birds. That was how she said yes

Kids are a great analogy. You want your kids to grow up, and you don't want your kids to grow up. You want your kids to become independent of you, but it's also a parent's worst nightmare: That they won't need you. It's like the real tragedy of parenting.

Only someone who'd never been an animal would put up a sign saying not to feed them.

I wondered, for the first time in my life, if life was worth all the work it took to live. What exactly made it worth it?