"A puzzle. It has to do with structure, weight balance, and tensile strengths of various materials. It's an interesting puzzle, but I'm always intrigued by materials."
I nodded. Some evenings she read in a journal devoted to discoveries in materials science. I flipped the pages once. There were articles about window glass becoming a mirror to increase insulation, moldable modular plastic walls, carbon threads strengthening concrete supports, things like that.

 

I made a slow circuit of the kitchen munching salad, then perched on the far corner of the table and stared into the salad bowl thinking.
At some point I realized Adonie had spoken. "What?" I said. Sometimes she liked to discuss these materials with me, even if they had nothing to do with wood. I could see her point; my perspective, whether additive or negative, was a perspective. Adonie liked comparing; she liked complexity.
Many things churn and grow in ferment, etc.