This is the story of a boy growing up in a small farming community on the eastern plains of Colorado. Although he had hopes of becoming a farmer like his parents, he went on to earn his PhD in Agronomy/Biochemistry and spent much of his career helping subsistence farmers in the dry regions of the world improve crop yields. His life took many twists and turns along the way, as he followed his passions in farming, science and later country music. Filled with humorous events from his experiences growing up in the 1940s and 1950s in rural small town America, the book details and preserves a picture of those two early decades for future generations to enjoy. It also touches on different cultures of people around the world. Originally written for his grandchildren and told from the heart, maybe this story will help some readers remember those things that shaped them to be something other than what they had believed they would be.

The author, Jerry Maranville, was born September 21, 1940 to Wesley and Marie Maranville on a farm in Langdon, Kansas. His family moved five years later to a farm in Matheson, Colorado. The town at that time was a thriving community and it is there Jerry grew up helping on the family farm. He later attended Colorado State University, where he earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in science. He studied agronomy with concentrations in soil conservation and crop science, later earning his Phd in agronomy and biochemistry from Kansas State University. He went on to become a professor of agronomy for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, later working with many international organizations to improve crop yields in the dry regions of the world. Jerry retired from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2000 and he and his wife, Donna (Perrill) Maranville returned to the family farmstead in Matheson. The couple has three grown sons and ten grandchildren.