Tatyana Grechina, Rescued from the Park, 5 × 7 inches, oil on canvas, 2026.

Anytime we go to the park with my 18-month-old son, he sorts life around himself. Some leaves, tiny flecks of organic matter and debris, he decisively marches over to the trash cans. (He will not be stopped.) Others come home with us, where they can sit on the kitchen table for weeks before I steal the time to make a record in my sketchbook or paint.