Growing up just seems to happen, there is no stopping it. We get older each day. Along the way we have experiences that keep coming back and replaying in our minds over and over again. At some point in life a lot of us will have the urge to write about them. I don't know if my life is much different than all the other men who grew up in the 50's and 60's, but I would like to share it with you anyway. Some people say that we are who we are because of our environment and genes, but things have happened to me that lead me to believe that there is a something more directing our lives on this small planet. There are connections that are hard to explain. Connections with the people we meet and the places we live and visit. When I paused and looked back on my life I found lots of things that seemed divinely directed. A lot of them were not necessary about me, but about others and I only played a small part in it. Coal Dust and Cave Mud, is about coal mining in the Appalachian Mountains, and western Kentucky. It also about the caves I have explored and some that I have surveyed. The last two chapters are about the history and exploration of Pettyjohn cave in Georgia, and Pumphouse cave in Tennessee. This version is in black and white.