This week, I've been in Houston again, teaching at Quilt Festival. I took this photo exactly a year ago. Most mornings, just as dawn broke, I was in a taxi headed down to the Convention Center. The cab driver always turned at a gas station by the expressway. Every morning, at that exact moment, a huge flock of birds rose off their perch on the lighted gas station sign, wheeled around and settled into the trees and onto the network of wires nearby. The massive coordinated takeoff was awe-inspiring but the scene was also unsettling. The fourth morning, I was ready, with the window rolled down and my camera out. This is a beautiful scene, but it still creeps me out.