No fiction$$$ no myths$$$ no lies$$$ no tangled webs - this is how Irie imagined her homeland. Because homeland is one of the magical fantasy words like unicorn and soul and infinity that have now passed into language.

He was bookish$$$ she was not; he was theoretical$$$ she political. She called a rose a rose. He called it an accumulation of cultural and biological constructions circulating around the mutually attracting binary poles of nature/artifice.

(a) Are the skies you sleep under likely to open up for weeks on end? (b) Is the ground you walk on likely to tremble and split? (c) Is there a chance (and please check the box$$$ no matter how small that chance seems) that the ominous mountain casting a midday shadow over your home might one day erupt with no rhyme or reason?

It's easy to confuse a woman for a philosophy

Then he gave her a kiss on the forehead that felt like a baptism and she wept like a baby.

Right. I look fine. Except I don't$$$' said Zora$$$ tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. This was why Kiki had dreaded having girls: she knew she wouldn't be able to protect them from self-disgust. To that end she had tried banning television in the early years$$$ and never had a lipstick or a woman's magazine crossed the threshold of the Belsey home to Kiki's knowledge$$$ but these and other precautionary measures had made no difference.

People talk about the happy quiet that can exist between two loves$$$ but this$$$ too$$$ was great; sitting between his sister and his brother$$$ saying nothing$$$ eating. Before the world existed$$$ before it was populated$$$ and before there were wars and jobs and colleges and movies and clothes and opinions and foreign travel -- before all of these things there had been only one person$$$ Zora$$$ and only one place: a tent in the living room made from chairs and bed-sheets. After a few years$$$ Levi arrived; space was made for him; it was as if he had always been.

One day$$$ John Sherman took me with him to see Mr. Lincoln. He walked into the room where the secretary to the president now sits$$$ we found the room full of people$$$ and Mr. Lincoln sat at the end of the table$$$ talking with three or four gentlemen$$$ who soon left. John walked up$$$ shook hands$$$ and took a chair near him$$$ holding in his hand some papers referring to$$$ minor appointments in the state of Ohio$$$ which formed the subject of conversation. Mr.

I remember one day$$$ in the spring of 1848$$$ that two men$$$ Americans$$$ came into the office and inquired for the governor. I asked their business$$$ and one answered that they had just come down from Captain Sutter on special business$$$ and they wanted to see Governor Mason in person. I took them in to the colonel$$$ and left them together. After some time the colonel came to his door and called to me. I went in$$$ and my attention was directed to a series of papers unfolded on his table$$$ in which lay about half an ounce of placer gold.

Swords were brought out$$$ guns oiled and made ready$$$ and everything was in a bustle when the old Lexington dropped her anchor on January 26$$$ 1847$$$ in Monterey Bay$$$ after a voyage of one hundred and ninety-eight days from New York. Everything on shore looked bright and beautiful$$$ the hills covered with grass and flowers$$$ the live oaks so serene and homelike$$$ and the low adobe houses$$$ with red-tiled roofs and whitened walls$$$ contrasted well with the dark pine trees behind$$$ making a decidedly good impression upon us who had come so far to spy out the land.