We were country kids. Barefoot in the summer, warmly dressed in woolen snowsuits and rubber overshoes in the winter, we spent most of our playtime outdoors. Although we each had home chores to do, some of which you'll learn about in this book, we also had a lot of play time. We were energetic kids, creative, too. With the exception of perhaps a homemade swing, a wagon or doll carriage and a few sand-pile toys, there was no playground equipment. The whole outdoors was our playground. Interwoven throughout our days during our childhood years were cows and horses, dogs and cats, chickens, pigs, geese, bees, fish, frogs, and creatures of the wild. We played with some of them, took care of some of them, ate some of them, and respected all of them. That was the way it was with country kids.