There was a time when men farmed no further away than their mule could walk.

There was a time when kids took their shoes off in June and didn’t put them back on until September.

There was a time the front porch was the center of activity.

There was a time when a man did not eat if he did not work.

There was a time when the sweetest sound one could hear was the sound of rain on a rolled tin roof.

There was a time when men stopped their tractor in the field and stood up when a funeral procession passed.

There was a time when everybody knew everybody.

There was a time when you acted up at school and got scolded three times before you got home. Because everybody knew everybody.

There was a time when the farm bell would ring and men and kids and horses and mules would head home for the noon day meal.

There was a time when it seemed like the whole world stopped on Sundays. And men rested.

There was a time when Sparky Jenkins was five years old.

There was a time when young boys wanted to be cowboys and get rid of all the bad guys.

There was a time when there was nothing more awesome than a thunderstorm at night.

There was a time when men walked in the soil they had just turned up. All day long.

There was a time when families worried about having enough food put up to take them through the winter.

There was a time when people were sometimes born, raised and died in the same house.

There was a time when families chopped wood all winter long.

There was a time when you seemed more a part of nature and nature seemed more a part of you.

There was a time when climbing up to that certain limb on that certain tree was the greatest accomplishment one could make.

There was a time when the best day of the whole summer was when your father put a load of fresh sand in your sandbox.

There was a time when all the world was alive and your imagination knew no limits.

There was a time when we were all just a little bit younger.

There was a time….