i dreamed early one morning this week that my son-in-law gave me a gift. it was a small shopping bag with some tissue paper inside, and when i unfolded to paper, the most beautiful butterflies flew out. i kept trying to capture them, to make sure they didn't fly away, and i was only halfway successful.

to say these butterflies were beautiful is no apt description. they didn't look like butterflies at all, but like cotton bolls, intricate birds, feathers, with long, butterfly legs. when i unfol...