entre l'arbre et l'ecorce il ne faut pas mettre le doigt...

In French, this means "between the tree and the bark do not put a finger" or, we would say, between a rock and a hard place... Today feels like a day to play with hard and soft... First, hard, the hardness of rock in the Canyon de Chelly, Arizona:

My friend used to have a sign over her desk that read "Go to the HARD place first"; she meant to remind herself that when she was working through a serious problem with a student (a problem the student might not want to face) words that needed saying had to be said ... first. Then everything else would come.  These rocks look as though they have faded in the sun, almost like spread-out linen; so soft-looking, and yet... we will go second, then, to the sky above these same rocks:

Rocks and clouds take any shape...