When I was seven years old, our family moved from the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, to a rural area in Western Kentucky. I grew up as a half-Yankee kid, learning the language, customs, and culture among the descendants of pioneers, backwoodsmen, and army veterans who formed my values: ninety years or so after the Civil War, forty years after WW I, seven since WW II, and a year after the Korean War. Hard working, tough survivors with strong opinions and beliefs.