Summary

Chapter 19 is titled, “Hungry Month, February-March." Barbara discusses the rigors of winter. February literally translates in some languages to “the hungry month.” She says people of centuries past were dependent on the previous growing season for the food to get through February and into the next growing season. While her family would not have been desperate even if their own garden produced nothing, they were now more aware of the seasons.

During this season in Barbara's life, one of her turkey hens began to look droopy. She feared a contagious disease and quarantined the bird, which immediately perked her up. Barbara repeated the process until she decided to let the bird roam into the pasture where Steven was working. There, the bird sidled up to Steven in an openly suggestive way and Barbara realized the hen, which she named Lolita, was coming into...