I originally started out to write down a few of my family’s tales for our current generation, but the Piney Woods kept butting in. That is, telling only about family would be about like serving black-eyed peas without cornbread. So, while this memoir is built around my family’s tales and history, the Piney Woods lore and way of life, dating back to the earliest settlers, get their share of attention. Most of the tales in these pages are cheerful since we were, and are, a jolly bunch. The grownups passed lots of the stories along as we sat on the porch or in front of the fireplace. They wedged in other shorter tales as folks took a break from work (often in my family) in the shade of the black gum tree.