Summary pg.132-168

Brende goes to Sylvan’s (Mr. Millers son in law) one day to find he is not there. When Sylvan gets back, Brende asks where he has been. Sylvan tells him that he was at council, but doesn’t say much else, even after Brende asks him more questions about what council is. After piecing together what Sylvan told him and what others had said about it, Brende finds that the council is the Minimite form of self-government. It was at council where they decided what technologies were allowed in the community. It was also at council where they would discuss topics and thoughts as they arose.
Brende and Mary took another trip to find a possible place to live once they were done with the research. They liked the town they had visited besides fro a few things. The town did not have a college. Brende wouldn’t be able to teach for living without the college, and other than teaching, he really didn’t know what to do for a living. He thought about farming, but then wondered how he would take part in the life of the village. He thought of trying a horse drawn cab service, but later learned that it had once been done before, and ended with a horse bolting after a semi had driven by.
At this time in the book, it was time for threshing. The Millers asked Brende if he would like to help with the threshing, and he accepted. While the Brendes were on their trip a heat wave had moved in. Brende had already felt lightheaded before he started helping with the threshing. Brende ended up helping gather sheaves in the field, and with pitching the sheaves onto a conveyor belt high mounded on a wagon. After a couple of rounds someone asked if he was alright. He insisted he was alright and continued with another job. When Brende was finished, his head felt like it was about to split and his skin was dry. He spent the next three days in bed in a feverish delirium.
After getting acclimated to the heat, Brende gave threshing another try. He was more productive this time. He also kept time on how long it took them to get ready, how long they would thresh at a time, how much time they spent waiting for a full wagon to unload. Brende found out that out of seven hours and fifty minutes, four hours and forty minutes were actually spent on physical labor.