Summary pg.30-45

Chapter three starts out with Brende talking about how often the Millers (the family Brende is renting the house from) have been helping out every time they would pass his house and how he expects less that they will continue to help. Brende also mentions how often he hears the Millers say “Many hands make work light.” What the Millers mean by this is the more people working together the less work each person will have to do.
The Jones family stops by and like the Millers, warns Brende of the coming winter and how they will have a lot of work to do in order to last through it. The Jonses helped Brende and his wife add to their gardens so that they would have more food during the winter. Mabel, the Joneses’ only daughter gave Mary a free lesson in hoeing. Brende and his wife later decided to visit the Jonses to see if they needed a hand with anything. The Brende’s would continue to go to the Jonses’ to socialize, but with the purpose of labor.
Caleb and Amos (the two youngest Miller boys) stop by with a cow. The cow gets loose from the rope, and they end up having to chase it. After the cow is calm, Caleb shows Brende how to milk a cow. Brende learns that the more you think about milking a cow while actually doing it, the less successful you will be. Brende says that the cow can tell when the person milking is tense and tenses up itself.
A rainstorm hits and creates a large mess for Brende. Their back porch, chicken coop, woodshed, and farrowing house were covered by runoff. Mr. Miller later stopped by with a bow and started to cut branches from one of Brende’s trees. Brende went out to converse and then ended up helping. Mr. Miller warned Brende that he would need wood for the winter, but Brende procrastinated. After Mr. Miller had left, Brende realized that Mr. Miller had basically given Brende the opportunity to gather wood.
Toward the end of the chapter, Brende finds out from Nate Jones that Mr. Miller had come from Lancaster County and had once lived as modern as anyone else. Brende brings it up with Mr. Miller and he admits to it. Miller says that he did it for the sake of the kids. He had mentioned that the conditions of his former habitat deteriorated. There had been an increase in underage drinking, teenage pregnancy, and drug use.