How Do I Know What I Think Till I See What I Say? And Chapter 1 Summary

Joseph and Ruth Allston have retired to Southern California where they have bought some property and built a home. The Allstons recently lost their son, thirty-seven-year-old Curtis, who was always something of a wanderer and who drowned in a surfing accident during one of his many attempts to find a path in life.

How Do I Know What I Think Till I See What I Say? Joe Allston and his wife, Ruth, come home from the funeral of Marian Catlin, a neighbor they loved and miss. Ruth goes in to take a nap, but Joe goes out to work in the garden. While in the garden, Joe thinks of all the things that have happened...