We say very little, for we do not need to. We are silent together, each in her own world, knowing the other is just at her back.

Say something worth the words.

That's how fossil hunting is: It takes over, like a hunger, and nothing else matters but what you find. And even when you find it, you still start looking again the next minute, because there might be something even better waiting.

Over his shoulder I saw a star fall. It was me.

I didn't move. I've learned from years of experience that dogs and falcons and ladies come back to you if you stay where you are.

I have consistently loved books that I've read when I've been sick in bed.

My father was often impatient during March, waiting for winter to end, the cold to ease, the sun to reappear. March was an unpredictable month, when it was never clear what might happen. Warm days raised hopes until ice and grey skies shut over the town again.