But things were changing. Big caterpillar tractors were shoving up the black earth and filling the swampland with noise and blue diesel smoke. The state of Louisiana was building a road through the swamp, and the animals were moving farther into the wilds. A man couldn't make a living by hunting and trapping. Papa had to go to work on the offshore oilrigs out in the Gulf of Mexico, and Jean had to look after his mother and sister while Papa was gone. Taking his father's place proved to be more difficult and dangerous than Jean had imagined. But it was a maturing experience, and it helped Jean to accept the fact that nothing stays the same. Both he and Papa had come to realize that the old way of life was gone, and that for Jean, the new life must include school.