Rupert Nelson

Like the Rings of a Tree Rupert Nelson

Like The Rings Of a Tree tells a life story of a boy who grew to manhood during a turbulent time in American history. The story begins in rural South Dakota during the drought and depression years of the 1930''s. World War II involved family members in that conflict and changed American life forever. The day by day work on Midwestern farms of that era is described by someone who has worked with horses, harvested grain, picked corn by hand, made hay and survived winter blizzards. Military service by a draftee caught up in the Korean War is related. The author takes us to life in tents, death and destruction, and the searing experience of seeing homeless, freezing and starving children. Those events resulted in a life changing experience. An encounter with institutionalized racism is noted, as the author and his fiance find they cannot be married in South Dakota, which like many states at that time, forbade interracial marriages. They were married in a neighboring state, because the author''s bride was an American citizen of Chinese ancestry. Several chapters describe the region and people in Northeast Montana where the author worked for the Montana Agricultural Extension Service on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, and how a Lakota baby girl became their first child. This Life story of accumulated experiences, Like Rings Of A Tree, depict some aspects of American history through the memoir of one ordinary person.