As the last portion was being eaten out of the pot by Zion (who is famous among us for his capability of eating more after everyone else is full), the candles were lit and instruments were taken out. We played music and all that till finally, the Castors took their leave, saying they had to go to their hotel in Valpo. Of course I wondered why they didn't want to stay at our cabin (we can always accommodate more!), but on second thought I was able to see our place from their perspective.
Wow. We looked like we must be dirt poor and living like pigs from a North American perspective. Who cares though--not me! And I know it's not true anyway.
I used a broom handle to make the dirt that somehow collected on my hammock-bed to fall to the ground. Every time I jabbed it up I could hear the light tapping sound of each speck hitting the ground.
When there were no more taps, I picked up my bedding, shook it out, and laid it out the way I always do, and put my precious pillow at the head.
In the room to the right, Mama was laying down the mattresses she and Papa slept on.
She had a candle on the ledge between the boards that crossed each other, making up the inside of the wall, which was finished by simple siding visible on either side. The vela's light flickered through the knothole in the wall and reminded me that she was right there, and all four little ones in the same room. Ephraim, Zion, and Asaph were getting in bed, at unpredictable times as usual. I took the lighter out of my pocket and leaned over my bed. The chains that attached it to the ceiling clinked with a loud rattling sound that was now comforting. From three other places in the house I could hear that same sound. Naphti and Zuriel and Simeon also slept in hanging hammocks.
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