ABSTRACT
Bare lunar hills camouflaged life in those pitted mountains. Caverns sheltered hermits from human contact. People were self-sufficient in the grim way of the monosyllabic needy, without the gentleness of the verbose idealistic. Diet was a problem. It lacked variety. People preferred fatty foods, and long-distance transport of fresh foods was expensive and hazardous, especially in bad weather. Some people coaxed vegetables out of the rocky soil, but our harsh climate meant a short growing season. Mick Doherty served in the Second World War and was a bit touched. Those two facts may or may not have been related, depending on who was talking and their mood. Kids will be kids. They continually annoyed the old man, so Bill Grey, one of the two local grocers, organised a little garden-shed dwelling by the upper reaches of the river that flowed through our town.
