In 1932, at age four, Alice moved with her family of five in the dilapidated house on the hill, above the creek bed where hobos, weary of riding the rails looking for work, often camped. The front yard had not a blade of grass and was riddled with gopher holes like the top of a salt or pepper shaker. In the upcoming years, the United States teetered on whether to enter the war already begun in Europe. Alice chronicles the vicissitudes of The Great Depression and perilous war years, while she and her family coped with the challenges of living their ordinary lives. The author brings warmth and humor as she relates wildly off-beat and entertaining incidents that lift the spirit with the joys of living, no matter the clouds of history.br