There is a saying in my hometown of Portsmouth, Virginia, that a man has five yards in his life. They are, like William Shakespeare’s “Seven Ages of Man.”

The first yard in one’s life is your “home yard,” where you played outside your house and where you grew from a crying baby into a curious child.
The second yard was the “school yard,” a place where you tried to escape the teachers who were inside trying to educate you to face the world.
The third yard in your life began; you went to work at one of the local and large employers. In Portsmouth, it happened to be the Seaboard Railroad Yard or the Norfolk Naval Shipyard.

The fourth yard in one’s life began when your working years were over. You retired and sat in front of the “court yard,” on High Street in downtown Portsmouth. There you and your fellow retirees, while visiting, gossiping and sometimes whittling, would solve all the world’s problems.
Then the fifth and final yard in one’s life was the “Graveyard,” no explanation needed.

The story of “Yards” represents the life of any individual in any port town located anywhere. In Portsmouth the “Yards” saying had a very special and personal meaning to its citizens. For those who were born or made their home in Portsmouth, and also attended church, and school, worked, retired and eventually died there, the five “yards” chronicled their lives.

About The Author

The world of Joel Landon Waterfield, the years of the Great Depression, World War II and the Korean Conflict highlight the experiences of all Americans of those years across the nation. Being poor and struggling appeared to be a normal condition among families, towns and cities, a great many of which realized not that they were indeed poor. The events in Joel’s life highlight what each individual and their communities experienced. Reading this book you will see yourself there. You will recognize the lessons taught by parents, dedication and guidance by grade and high school teachers, community entrepreneurs and church and business folk of all persuasions. Everyone was told they could achieve their weaknesses and dreams through dedicated hard work and study; and many were directly aided by men and women of the community toward those goals.

Thank you Joel, you brought back the goodness of those difficult days fresh in our memories. We all were with you somewhere across America.

Dr. Willem A. Hamel, Publisher

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