From Lila and Theron (June 1, 2017)

Lila and Theron do not imagine themselves poor, nor do they covet what they don’t have. They are whole in themselves and on their land and progress impinges little on their lives.

Be cold

Forage and grow

Haul wood and stone

Be hungry

Use hand tools

Be bold

Raise children

Walk without light

Keep animals

Grow old

Adore someone

Greet wildlife

Pay rapt attention

Ferment your food

Forgive yourself and others

• Bill Schubart

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

• The third Beatitude, Matthew 5:5,

“Lila thinks often of her father, not about his death in the Big River, but about how much she wishes he was still alive. She has questions about how men are and what they want. Unlike her father, her husband is quiet and she knows he harbors a question he doesn’t know how to ask. She knows, too, he spent his childhood parenting an alcoholic father, whereas Heb Farnsworth was always demonstrative in his affection for his wife and daughter, teased out their secret joys and sadness and offered good-hearted advice on life’s perplexities. Lila has no doubts about her choice of a husband or her love for Theron – or his for her – but she knows it will fall to her to answer the question he hasn’t asked.”