A banker at a Wall Street investment bank said that as business ground to a halt this fall, "There were a lot of football catches on the trading floor, and occasionally you'd hear the sound of footballs crashing into monitors." In November, he was sacked in a fourth round of layoffs.

"What do you think you are doing?" Madoff demanded. Eating a pear, the employee replied.

What you can do is signal a sense of motion, a sense of ferment and activity and direction.

Of Footballs, Fruit, and Ferment