The men are my grandfather, on the right, and his brother. My grandfather, Charlie Hafer, helped settle Western Nebraska. He broke sod, tamed horses, farmed the dry land, picked fruit, played pitch with the boys in town, and raised a son just as hardy as he was.  He couldn't imagine living anyplace else.  He loved the plains and the west, and he gave me a sense of history. I try to write with that sense, to show that we are as much a product of our past as we are the present. Since we cannot escape our past, let us celebrate those who came before us.