Some of my happiest childhood times were spent growing up in Dumas, Georgia, which is just outside of Preston. This poem is written from my recollections.

Heat waves rising off Georgia clay
It's summertime, and I'm out to play.
Think I'll take my butterfly net
And see how many specimens I can catch.

Running barefoot across the ground
I hide in the cornfield - Can't be found!
Thick green canopy over my head
Deeper in the forest I am led.

Out the other side and what do I see -
But a sweet potato patch just aching for feet
To run through its rows, playing hop scotch
Oh my goodness, it sure is hot!

Down to the water hole, lickety split
Dancing through the water - Go, Cows - get!
Smelly black mud makes good chocolate pies
Just be sure it doesn't splatter in your eyes.

Here are some tadpoles, swimming around,
And look! My hen's nest I finally found.
After a swallowtail I run through the field,
Across my face a cooling breeze I thankfully feel.

Big yellow school bus rumbling down the road
School starts soon - I'm not ready, this I know!
Let me roam the fields just a little bit longer
'Til the muscles in my legs get a little bit stronger.

Ouch! There's a sandspur stabbing in my toe
And an old blue lizard - Beat him with the hoe!
Horsefly buzzing all around my head,
I run for the sprinkler, through the flower bed.

Back to the house now, wonder what's for lunch?
Hope it's something good, I can sure eat a bunch!
But first I think I'll climb my old mulberry tree
Maybe the shrike's eggs I'll finally see.

Sitting in the mulberry I recall a time
When only to the first limb I could climb.
Now I'm at the top, what I view I have!
There comes a lumber truck, I can see the cab.

Guess what, Mama? My hen laid an egg
And I can hop across the yard on just one leg!
Can I ride my bike to the commissary?
I'll bring back some cold drinks - just for you and me.

The company store is an interesting place
All kinds of groceries, fabric, and lace.
I wave at my Daddy up on the lumber chain
And stop at the Ethell's to see Sarah and Lane.

Close to home I think I smell - Oh, can it be?
Peanut butter cookies fresh baked for me!
Now my tummy's full and I ought to take a nap
But I'm up in a flash, to the door and out.

I run to my swingset and make believe I'm grown
And my very own cow horse I finally own.
The see-saw sways as I visit with my friends
Only I can see them, because they're pretend.

Now it's time to take a bath and say good night
But the pump's out again - oh, that's all right.
Who needs to take a bath more than once a week?
I'll just sleep on the covers and not dirty up the sheets.

Just before I go to sleep I thank the Lord above
For my Georgia childhood, and all the things I love -
I wouldn't trade it for the world, and that's a fact
And if I could, I surely would, some day go back.