People from the nearby town visited sometimes, curious or seeking refuge from their own textures of life. Guests were met like weather: with hospitality and clarity about boundaries. A neighbor named Ruth came by one August afternoon with a jar of preserves. She sat at the table, wrapped in a shawl, and they spoke of crops and children and the county fair. Conversation moved easily from seed varieties to the ethics of foraging. Clothes, when worn, were functional—a hat against the sun, a shawl for a cool evening—and the presence or absence of fabric did not hollow the weight of their words.