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23<br />
Conscious of time’s flow or not, Knight was still subject to its laws. He grew older. His survival skills<br />
peaked, his efficiency was honed, but like an athlete <strong>in</strong> decl<strong>in</strong>e, his body could not keep pace. For a while he<br />
was able to haul two propane tanks on his back. <strong>The</strong>n he could carry only one.<br />
His eyesight was a constant concern. He’d had poor vision s<strong>in</strong>ce his youth and was obsessive about<br />
protect<strong>in</strong>g his eyeglasses. “I knew if I broke my glasses that would be it,” he said, “and that carefulness<br />
extended to my whole body.” <strong>The</strong>n, without humor—his preferred way of fram<strong>in</strong>g a quip—he added, “No<br />
cartwheels over boulders for me.”<br />
Even so, <strong>the</strong> world beyond an arm’s length gradually lost focus. His glasses eventually failed him, and<br />
everyth<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> woods became more or less a blur. Each time he saw a pair of glasses dur<strong>in</strong>g a break-<strong>in</strong>,<br />
he tried <strong>the</strong>m on, but he never found a better prescription. He’d always used his ears more than his eyes, so<br />
by <strong>the</strong> time he couldn’t see well, it didn’t matter much. He was <strong>in</strong> his home territory. “Do you need glasses<br />
to move about your home? No. I didn’t, ei<strong>the</strong>r.”<br />
Most hermits across history, secular ones especially, did not grow old <strong>in</strong> seclusion. <strong>The</strong>y waited until <strong>the</strong>y<br />
were already fairly old, with a stockpile of experience and wisdom, to leave <strong>the</strong> world. Knight vanished at<br />
twenty and never aga<strong>in</strong> received a word of guidance or <strong>in</strong>struction. He turned to no elder for advice. He was<br />
k<strong>in</strong>g and janitor of his t<strong>in</strong>y realm, and <strong>the</strong> rest of <strong>the</strong> world, he believed, had noth<strong>in</strong>g to teach him, no<br />
wonder to offer. His decisions were purely his own.<br />
He sacrificed college, a career, a wife, children, friends, vacations, cars, sex, movies, phones, and<br />
computers. He had never <strong>in</strong> his life sent an e-mail or even seen <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>ternet. His milestones were less<br />
significant. Knight switched, at some po<strong>in</strong>t, from dr<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g tea to coffee. Classical music, he eventually<br />
realized, soo<strong>the</strong>d him more than rock did. His pet mushroom grew. <strong>The</strong> handheld game players he stole got<br />
smaller and better. He knew, even with blurry vision, when each bald eagle pair nest<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> his forest had<br />
hatchl<strong>in</strong>gs. He began to dr<strong>in</strong>k more alcohol.<br />
He fell a couple of times, hard, though never broke a bone. Once he slipped on some ice and banged his<br />
left arm so badly he couldn’t pick up a cup for a month, but that was <strong>the</strong> worst <strong>in</strong>jury he susta<strong>in</strong>ed. As he<br />
aged, <strong>the</strong> usual bruises on his hands and wrists from liv<strong>in</strong>g outdoors seemed to l<strong>in</strong>ger; <strong>the</strong>y didn’t heal <strong>the</strong><br />
way <strong>the</strong>y used to. His teeth constantly hurt.<br />
Questions crept <strong>in</strong>to his m<strong>in</strong>d. He wondered if all <strong>the</strong> sugar he was eat<strong>in</strong>g was mak<strong>in</strong>g him diabetic. He<br />
thought about cancer, or <strong>the</strong> possibility of a heart attack, yet he did not consider see<strong>in</strong>g a doctor. He<br />
accepted his mortality as is.