THREE BOYS FROM KENTUCKY

THREE BOYS FROM KENTUCKY
 
There’s an old black and white picture in an antique wooden frame I have hanging in my room. Don’t know if it’s really a photograph or a picture of one!
I can only speculate.
 There are three boys sitting on the back porch enthralled with the other little boy’s voice! I would guess that they’re somewhere around the ages of 9 or 10 years. The picture looks like it was taken eons ago in another place and time somewhere in the back hills of Kentucky,….
but I really don’t know – I’m just speculating.
There’s a vintage harness hanging from a rusty nail behind them. One of the boys is wearing his straw hat pushed to the back of his head. He has a corn cob pipe in his mouth – probably belongs to his Daddy. I don’t think he’s smoking (he’s just holding it between his teeth and lips to see how grown-ups feel). One of the boys (a tow head) has an apple in one hand resting on his knee – a big piece of it missing and under the other arm he holds his own straw work hat with very frayed edges. (not his Sunday go-to-meetin’). The third boy has his hand under his chin, fingers partially covering his mouth listening intently to his pals. They’re all barefoot! The three boys are probably discussing where to go or maybe they’re talking about catching frogs or skimmin’ stones across the river near where they live. Maybe there’re fixin’ to go swimmin’. I can see a well used tire in my mind’s eye hanging from the stately oak tree right near the swimming hole – a piece of Grampa’s rope holding it securely in place so they can swing out over the water to do their best cannonball jumps! The winner has dibs on the nickel for a visit to the general store where colorful jars of penny candy await their pick.
One can only speculate, you know.
I kinda thought the tow-haired boy looked a lot like my oldest son when he was young! Guess that’s why I liked the picture so much. What do you see when you look at old treasured photographs?