“It's not the deprivations of winter that get you, or the damp of spring, but the no-man's land between.”

“Food, a French man told me once, is the first wealth. Grow it right, and you feel insanely rich, no matter what you own.”

“It's not the deprivations of winter that get you, or the damp of spring, but the no-man's land between.”

“We drove out of New Paltz heading due north. Squeezed into my tiny hatchback, among our boxes and bags, were my dog, Nico, the hens, and the humming hive of bees, its openings covered over with tape. The dog eyed the hive, the chickens eyed the dog, and if the bees weren't nervous they were the only ones.”

“There is no such thing as escape after all, only an exchange of one set of difficulties for another. It wasn't Mark or the farm or marriage I was trying to shake loose from but my own imperfect self, and even if I kept moving, she would dog me all the way around the world, forever.”