"Well if you had a house like that already, might be harder to satisfy your tastes," he says, almost to himself. He'd taken to his own on the basis of protection from the elements and a kind of wonder for the size and shape of it. The trailer hadn't left him with a lot of expectations. "Maybe think about the shittiest place you ever lived and learn to settle."

He points at a house just off the path they're following, behind a thick tangle of foliage. "This one's intact, last time I checked."