This very brief chapter, "Untying the Knot," is about time. What does Dillard want time to be?

Dillard wants neat categories of time that are separated by distinct markers. In the natural world, these categories would be the four seasons. Dillard playfully writes that she wants to catch the exact moment spring arrives. She knows that is an impossible goal, because the seasons, like the snakeskin, are in a continuous loop.