When I was a small boy growing up in Beaver City, Nebraska in the late 1940's we went for lots of car rides.

I think that was for a couple of reasons: My Dad loved to drive and there was no air conditioning.

We would drive on Sunday afternoons or any evening. We would drive to and around all the neighboring towns such as Arapahoe, Oxford, Hendley, Wilsonville, Stamford, and Orleans. Sometimes we would venture a little further to towns like Holdrege, McCook, or Norton, Kansas.

But more often we would drive the country roads around Beaver City. I think we knew where every farmer lived and how many cows, chickens, and cats he owned. Some farms were known by their previous long time settler owners, not by the name of who lived there. Such as the Smith's who lived on the Martin farm.

We would drive out into my uncle's big pastures down by the Kansas border and look at his white faced Herefords and his horses. I loved to see the horses get spooked by something and run with their tail sticking straight up in the air.

I guess that it was educational for a little boy for I saw all phases of crop and cattle operations as we drove around. But my favorite thing to do as we were riding was to look for WILD ANIMALS! Of course the only wild animals around there seemed to be coyotes and skunks!