Potato-Boilers Have a Certain Look About Them

Potato-boilers have a certain look about them. Hardscrabble, they've experienced long lists of things. Clouds of starchy steam don't change their decades of clear blue fall days. On the other hand, nor does fresh autumn color have any effect upon the legions of potatoes they have boiled.

Christina had given herself to many pots of cooking potatoes. Her hands, having hovered over the steam from years of ample and meager pots alike, had cracked into several lines running down her palms and to the sides. She wore simple colors and a different scarf around her neck each day.