In Thurow, at least, he has found something to do. Along with helping on the castle repair, he has claimed a couple of upstairs rooms and turned them into a loft apartment. In addition to the economic tumult, all the changes have worn a hole in the social fabric. Mr. Viek, who lives at the top of Village Street, says he doesn't really know what's going on down at the castle, which stands no more than a couple of blocks away at the bottom of the street. Now, says Mrs. Fahning, people pretty much go their own ways, usually in a rush and in a car.
Nobody walks anymore.
Dinner Out Back Still, some old habits are hard to break. A necessity in East Germany if one wanted to eat reasonably well, this backyard farming is now a hedge against bad times. Even the newcomers are getting with it. Anke Boldt opens the front door, wiping her hands in her apron and explaining that she has just been out back gathering food for dinner. She and her husband, Willi, moved here a couple of years ago from Schwerin, the big city in the area, after Mr. Boldt's grandfather gave them his house and a large parcel of land.