I’ve been picking up sticks along the way. I recently finished the Earthsea trilogy by Ursula Le Guin and wanted to share a small passage from The Farthest Shore, 1972. • “What are you watching there?” the Archmage asked, and the other answered, “A spider.” Between two tall blades in the clearing a spider had spun a web, a circle delicately suspended. The silver threads caught the sunlight. In the center the spinner waited, a gray-black thing no larger than the pupil of an eye. “She too is a patterner,” Ged said, studying the artful web. “What is evil?” asked the younger man. The round web, with its black center, seemed to watch them both. “A web we men weave,” Ged answered. In this wood no birds sang. It was silent in the noon light and hot. About them stood trees and shadows. •