Outskirts Press, INC.

Growing up in rural central Texas from the early 1960’s to 1970, this book is a series of short stories that takes two young children through adventure after adventure so they can craft their skills in the art of nature exploration and self-reliance. As you read through the different stories, you realize it is not the things your parents told you that helped carve your personality, but it is those things they silently allowed you to do that had the greatest impact. Let each of my stories guide you through a time when living on a farm was far less about not having a color TV, video games, a phone or any air conditioning to comfort oneself and more about enjoying time spent outside in nature. Chapters: “Limestone County BC” is set in the early 1960’s before our younger brother was born. Our home was located in the black land farming area around Mart, Texas, where my brother David and I began developing our early curiosity of the outdoors. We lived in a house where fresh well water, outdoor toilets, chickens, cows and our beloved dog BoBo were the centerpiece of everything we knew. “Cotton Gins” delivers our first experience away from home and introduces us to the slow paced city of Mart Texas and the cotton gin. It is here that we first experience the existence of life beyond our own farm as we tour the Mart Cotton Gin during peak cotton season. “Living on the Hill” is broken up into two short stories and focuses on mischief, new pets and the art of running away from home. Our home was located just south of Mart up on a hill where we overlooked the Mart city lights at night. It was here that my brother and I sealed our roles as adventurers. “Great Aunts and Uncles” is where we develop our first experience of a time and of people who would ultimately disappear from our lives way too early. The home cooked meals prepared from fresh farm ingredients, the lost time of houses without electricity, farm animals and lack of running water made us appreciate even what we had. “Days with Dad” is like the farm version of “taking the kids to work day”, but with a twist. While many days began with hard work, they always ended with the celebration of a good day of learning nature, visiting Dad’s favorite eating places, hanging out at the local beer joint and other local Mart establishments. “Elk Texas” begin to weave the tale of having sibling rivalry and what sorts of social skills we had to deal with day to day while interacting with the citizens of Elk. Fishing, cats and trying to figure out how to earn money were the highlights of our days. “North Texas” addresses our first trips outside of central Texas and how we impacted our grandparents. Just like Aunts and Uncles, it focuses on food, farming and more trouble making. “Strike Three” closes the saga of how two brothers finally concede their rivalry and conclude that their fathers time as a farmer and their time as children ultimately does come to an end.