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Elihu Flax, Geometer
Upon first meeting Elihu Flax, you might expect him to be the sort that would shun radios and telephones and electric lights, for Elihu certain attires himself in the dark blue overalls, hand-washed blue chambray shirt and dark wide-brimmed hat of his Amish Mennonite peers.
But Elihu is of the Beachy Amish Mennonite — no, they’re not overly fond of sun and sand and surf; they are followers of former bishop Moses M. Beachy, and thus have somewhat relaxed practices —and he therefore carries a cell phone and often makes use of his laptop.
In fact, Elihu’s laptop is of incalculable (well, rather . . . quite calculable) assistance to him in his practice as a geometer, for Elihu is fond of neatly arranged polygonal planting plots of wheat, corn, soybeans, vegetables and cattle graze that optimize his use of the available farmland slopes. And how else can he perfect the various spirals of his locks and beard (i.e. logarithmic, hyperbolic, Archimedean and lituus)? He didn’t just achieve his particular perpendicularity of mouth and nose and hat brim by chance, after all!
So if you’re ever in need of a world-class geometer, look for Flax, Elihu, in the righteously rectilinear aubergine farmhouse with cream trim, along the rural route heading south out of the Town of Holsopple, Conemaugh Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, 24° 11′ 12.21″ N, 120° 40′ 48.33″ E; 24.186725, 120.680092.
Enjoy the checkered scenery of farm plots rolling over ridge and rill!