The Summer Book

A bulldozer is clearing a path for a road, and Sophia hides behind a rock and cries out “Jesus, help! There go the woods!” (63). Nervous men work around the rented bulldozer trying to keep it on the right track. Headed for the water, the workers and the bulldozer pass, and Sophia picks up the items she dropped and walks on the newly cleared road, which is bordered by broken trees and disturbed ground.

Sophia walks toward the bay. She sees that the soft ground under the meadow gave way, and the bulldozer is now stuck. A man, Emil, is by the machine, and Sophia asks him where everyone else is. He says they went to get equipment and shrugs off Sophia by saying she knows nothing about machines. Sophia continues to the shore, where she finds Grandmother. She thinks Grandmother will be excited, and she notes the similarity between the events and the Biblical story of Gomorrah.

Eriksson is a family friend, a fisherman and a scavenger, but he does not visit often. He does not enjoy fishing, but he loves and is skilled at scavenging items from the ocean, including debris from shipwrecks that occur far out at sea.