We never actually lived on a farm or ranch during my stay in Ekalaka and Carter County but I spent a lot of time on my grandparents farm. In a sense, we lived on a farm also because even on the 4 acres at our first house in Ekalaka or the 152 acres on the second, we always had a milk cow and horses plus sheep, goats, pigs and of course, chickens.

In recent years, I have heard kids complain bitterly about being bored. To the best of my recollection, I was never bored on our small farms or on my grandparents larger one. All of this was pre-video games or cell phones and even pre-television. W...