Summary

At around five pages, this is the shortest chapter in the book. Dillard sets out on a walk to notice the changing of the seasons—from winter to spring and instead she finds an old snake skin coiled in a knot. She takes the snake skin home to try and untie the knot it but cannot figure out where the snakes begins and ends, it seems as if there is no end. Finally she realizes one end is folded into the other as if it is inside out.

Again, she ventures outside to notice the changing of the seasons. She wonders how long it took man to first notice the changes, how many years and seasons did he have to go through before he began to expect the snow to thaw, the heat to relent. She notes her life is marked by...