excerpts from the book The Web of Life by Richard Louv

"When I was three or four I was stuck with a thought that stopped me in my tracks.  I was walking
through fallen pears in my grandmother' s half acre.  Their smell was full and tart at the top of my nose.
I stopped and looked at the pear tree and the corpses around it, and suddenly I knew that I had come
into this body, like everyone else into theirs, through the crown of my head, like a stream of
sparkling dust. I still believe it is true, as true as only a dream can be.  What stopped me in my
tracks was not the realization that I had been dropped into my body.  What stopped me was the question why.  Why had I been dropped into this body, instead of that one, or that one or any other  one?  I did not mind being in this body.  But why is body? Why this time?" . . . . .
. . . . . as I grow older the puzzlement is giving way to acceptance or gratitude. This is my body. This is
my time."