I agree about the flatlanders, folks. And grew up as one, but my section of Illinois was both rural and blessed with rolling hills and the Big River so I wasn't exposed to concrete canyons and aluminium tree trunks until I was ready to start high school -- and by then it was too late for me to change.

The Depression lingered longer where I grew up, and a gun "behind the door" often meant meat on the table. I ate wild duck, squirrel, rabbit -- not deer, for they had not yet reproduced enough to warrant a hunting season (in fact, you got two years in jail if you shot one) -- and enough carp and catfish that even now I sometimes want to jump in a slough and spawn. I also learned to close gates after passing through, how to splice a broken fence wire, how to share your kill with the property owner, when NOT to pull the trigger or release the arrow, how to respect the property of others, how to ask permission to go on another's land, responsible weapons usage, and in general how to be a good neighbor and citizen. Those I grew up with did the same.

We're trying to pass these, oh, hell, values on to the next generation. And we seem to be succeeding.