Summary

Part I of this essay begins with Dillard being awakened from a dream by her own screams. She has dreamed she has watched dragon fly larva hatch and thousands of fish eggs have hatched and are swimming in her bed. She is both alarmed at what will happen to the larva that have hatched in her house and the fish swimming in her bed, but even more so she is disturbed by the fecundity of nature—the pressure that all creatures, including plants, have to grow and procreate. She is disturbed by how much life is brought forth—almost carelessly, cheaply.

For the duration of Part I of the essay Dillard thinks about plants and animals with impressive growth and fecundity: barnacles, bamboo, sycamore trees, rabbits, rats. She is amazed at how the wild desperate for growth can thrive in urban settings like rats...