Agoraphobia

Day 40 - 58 (Settling Into a Routine)

There were two worlds at Elwood's: "Inside World" and "Outside World". Inside World was packed with agoraphobic refugees. Outside World was the domain of Uncle Peter, Frank, and myself.

The division of labor was split between these two worlds. Anything that could be done inside was given to the agoraphobics to do. Gutting animals, scaling fish, cooking, curing meat, shucking corn, scrubbing toilets, churning butter, sewing, cleaning, educating children, boiling hog slop, scrubbing pots, building furniture, washing clothes, tending fires, etc... was all left to the agoraphobics to do. (It was also understood that once Uncle Peter, Frank, and I came inside, we were not expected to lift a finger.) That might sound like a lot, but among the forty-five agoraphobics, there was not enough indoor work to go around. Boredom was their constant companion.

The flip side was Uncle Peter, Frank, and I were expected to do EVERYTHING else. Scavenging, farming, slopping the hogs, plowing the fields, picking fruit, fishing, collecting eggs, digging for bait, hauling away feces, hauling in clean water, felling trees, harvesting crops, checking traps, pulling weeds, etc... and, with only the three of us, we could only barely get it done. Fatigue was OUR constant companion.

To improve our lives, we added as many amenities as our resources would allow. Many bookshelves were assembled in the Main House and stocked from the local book store and Uncle Peter's home. Board games of every type were brought in. "Dungeons & Dragons" was particularly popular. Toys were appropriated for the children. Crayons, paper, and art supplies, too.

With help, Grandpa Kevin and Great-Uncle Ellis built "gravity toilets" on the first and second floors. PVC pipes directed waste to the wheelbarrows outside. It was an efficient system. About the only time we had problems was during the winter when the pipes occasionally froze. Warm water "enemas" usually removed the clog.

For a few hours every day, Gina turned the living room into a one-room, multi-grade classroom with a strong emphasis on science. Grandpa Kevin helped, and Colin taught music.

Grandpa Kevin also established an apprenticeship program where children were partnered with adults to learn a trade. David, for example, was paired with Great-Uncle Ellis to learn butchering. Ittel was paired with Donna to learn agricultural science. Dea was paired with Margaret to learn pickling. And Leslie was paired with Aunt Roxanne to learn medicine.

Grandpa Kevin had made a good call with Leslie. She was a brilliant student with a nearly eidetic memory. Uncle Peter and I scavenged medical texts from the university and Leslie did not so much read them as consumed them. She lacked Aunt Roxanne's practical experience. But I knew the student would eventually surpass the master.

One of my few hobbies was making puzzles. Nichole liked solving them. In fact, Nichole was able to solve every puzzle I came up with for her. Usually, I'd hide a coin someplace in the house and give her a cryptic clue to its location. And she found it EVERY time. For example, this is one I gave her:

derun,het,airch,fo / fvpe_ (before-a a=b, before-b a=c, before-nothing a=a)

In less than ten minutes, Nichole broke the code and found the hidden coin under the blue living room chair.

Here's another puzzle I made for Nichole: "It's at the end of all roads. In the middle of nowhere. It's a filling of pie. And existed at the beginning of time. What color is it?" In less than ten seconds, she correctly answered "brown".

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