"AS A LITTLE GIRL I WALKED FOR HOURS ALONE IN THE SILENT WOODS behind my house in Louisiana, singing songs... Before going home, I would follow a path to our neighbors house, through a landscaped yard and past a swimming pool. They had a rock garden full of small, soft pebbles that would trap the heat and stay warm in a way that felt so good against my skin. I would lie down on those rocks and look up at the sky, feeling the warmth from below and above, thinking: / can make my own way in life. I can make my dreams come true."