Studious Cowboy Ray, about age 6, circa 1950, on the way to school. House in background was built by my grandfather by hand during the Great Depression. This semi-rural area of North Carolina has lots of pine trees, sand, sand spurs, and little critters called chiggers (they are not nice pets). Behind the house was a barn, a mule, a cow, some chickens, and the outhouse. Yep, in the winter I had cold buns back then.