Mary gets the chance to visit in Sam's absence

Sounds like Mary is totally comfortable being alone with Sam out of town. She is quite social. Having her shoes repaired, ironing and mending clothes shows what life was like at the time. When I was a kid and we lived on a farm in Oregon, we butchered a cow and a pig each year. My folks rented a meat locker in Sandy, Oregon. I got to go once and see what it looked like. The containers that held the meat were big metal baskets with a number on them and a padlock that was my parents'. It was very cold too! Not a lot of those around anymore. Everyone gets their own freezers and puts them in their...