The first year I lived here I had only a tree, a bed, and a fireplace. But one idea led to another, and the next thing I knew, I had built myself a habitat. Things just kept evolving.
-- Sam (A Storm Breaks paragraph 3)

Importance: When Sam first arrives on Bitter Mountain, he struggles to survive from one meal to the next, then from one day to the next, and then finally is able to stock enough food and supplies to last an entire season. As Sam’s food stores evolve, so do his living arrangements, which grow to include everything from a writing desk to a water-powered sawmill. It is a sign of the encroachment of civilization onto the mountain, and while Sam can tolerate some of this, he cannot tolerate all of it – as evidenced by his later refusal to allow the mill to general electricity.

I needed a little sister like Frightful needed vegetables...
-- Sam (The Population Shrinks paragraph 27)