pictures of hollis woods by Patricia Reilly Giff

A lace curtain of snow blew across the porch.

I liked the feeling of hacking and slashing and getting things done.

It was wonderful, the first place the sun hit every day, so that squares of light turned the room to lemon gold.

I'd drawn pages of animal tracks for him, raccoon and deer, rabbit and possum . . . and birds, even a loon that had come out of the water to sun itself on a rock.

After I ate I looked at the tree figure Josie was doing of me: a long piece of wood, spaces drilled in the sides where the arms would be, a face beginning to take shape, a mouth begun, a small, pointed nose, and a tiny cut on the forehead.