As a young boy, I loved to hear the stories of my ancestors told by my parents, aunts, uncles, and neighbors. The storytellers  and listeners came  to sit and spin yarns under our large willow tree after the evening meal, which we called supper.  

We lived in what then was a  semi-rural area of Austin, Texas. Most of the informal gatherings drew rural folks who raised livestock. Since I came from a family that had been in the cattle business for 300 years, the conversation always seemed to be about cows and cowboys.