Loyd:  "It has to do with keeping things in balance.  It’s like the spirits have made a deal with us.  We’re on our own.  The spirits have been good enough to let us live here and use the utilities, and we’re saying:  We know how nice you’re being.  We appreciate the rain, we appreciate the sun, we appreciate the deer we took.  Sorry if we messed up anything.  You’ve gone to a lot of trouble, and we’ll try to be good guests."
Codi:  "Like a note you’d send somebody after you’d stayed in their house?"
Loyd:  "Exactly like that.  ‘Thanks for letting me sleep on your couch.  I took some beer out of the refrigerator, and I broke a coffee cup.  Sorry, I hope it wasn’t your favorite one.’"
~Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams