These essaysor as Sydney Williams calls them: musingsare evocative of a time and a placeof growing up in a New Hampshire village in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Sydney Williams was the second of nine children whose parents were sculptors and who was raised on a small farm, with horses, goats and chickensan unconventional life in an unconventional place, but during a conventional time. They include memories of his parents and their families, of books and of skiing. While they are personal, their message is universal message. It is one of remembrancethe closeness of families and the effect genes and environment have on how we become who we are.