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‘Is this going to be a blog post?’

Becca and I had been untangling birds for about an hour. (Eliina made me three strands of paper cranes threaded on gold string, for my birthday. And now these strings were tangled. Quite hopelessly.)

Untangling a knot is the most satisfying and least satisfying of tasks. Becca had more patience than me. I kept thinking if I just gave them all a simultaneous massage-like motion, they’d magically untangle. Nope.

It was like untangling your shoelaces — but with birds. So when we found an avenue for a string, the game became: pass this whole string of birds through this tiny loop.

At some point Becca asked: Is this going to be a blog post?

Yes, yes it is. Bird by bird, inching through impossible loops.

And Eliina: I love my paper cranes. Untangling them will become part of the memory.

I’d like to say we untangled them all, but we didn’t. They are spread out on my bed. But we’re close.