chronicles the boyhood of the author on a farm in rural Virginia during the Great Depression. It tells of hard work and happy play of a time long ago. Times were lean. On the farm, there was no electricity, telephone or radio; farm work was performed with horse and mule. Harvesting hay, threshing wheat and working in the cornfields contrasted with Huck Finn-type adventures floating down the river in a leaky homemade boat with playmates. Accidents on the farm called for frantic horseback rides for the only doctor in the nearby town. The author relates the happy times along with his sadness when events force him to leave the farm. His adult career in engineering and management positions in NASA's manned space programs, Gemini, Apollo and the Space Shuttle, contrasted sharply with his simple boyhood life.