She was, he explained, protecting the baby in her arms and about to run off.
In her installation, Ms. Lin, 46, who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, is to take her cue from the academy's mission to explore, explain and protect the natural world.
The vines are under nets, Neill explains, to protect them from birds.
Their shared approach is in part defensive, Judge Cedarbaum explained, to protect against future embarrassment.
Echoing the motives behind the affair in "The Generation Gap," this trip is made as if the man's daughter, as she dryly explains, "will protect him from the proximity of death and restore him to the domain of life".
"At the end of the day I want to know I did all I could," Mr Bright explains, "to protect these judges so they can serve in these honourable positions without feeling like they betrayed their faith".
The program was, he explained, "to protect our schools from the same type of violence," though some people are questioning the risks of placing this responsibility in the hands of armed volunteers when it is taxpayers who would foot the bill for their mistakes.
Examples of this, the commission explains, are "protecting older and disabled people receiving care, protecting the freedom of the press and defending the rights of British servicemen and women fighting abroad to have appropriate equipment when risking their lives on behalf of the nation".
Moments of social peace and coexistence, however troubled and imperfect, are the brief miracle that needs explaining, and protecting.
THE HUNT FOR THE GOLDEN MOLE - BY RICHARD GIRLING: VINTAGE £9.99 Richard Girling's history of conservation, explaining why protecting species is important, is a delight to read, even if the chapter devoted to the hunting of elephants and rhinoceroses is heart-breaking.
