Every day on my way to and from work, I pass Boot Hill Farm in Clark County, the former home of Rena and John Jacob Niles. John Jacob was a man of many talents. He was a singer and a songwriter, crafted musical instruments and was an author. He is known as the “Dean of American Balladeers” and the Center for American Music at the University of Kentucky is named after him.

Their house on Boot Hill Farm is a veritable rabbit warren of contrasting styles and materials, with no apparent rhyme or reason for numerous additions. Yet, somehow, the lack of cohesive design causes the house, out buildings and farm to strike my imagination. It gives Boot Hill a feeling of whimsy. It is as if there is a method to this madness.

In 1947, Rena and John Jacob published an illustrated children’s book titled Mr. Poof’s Discovery, in which the title character, a mouse, made a discovery about cream. This story was modified and paraphrased in the movie Catch Me If You Can. The movie version was told as follows:

(Frank Abagnale, Sr.): Two little mice fell in a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse wouldn’t quit. He struggled so hard that eventually he churned that cream into butter and crawled out. Gentlemen, as of this moment, I am that second mouse.

To our readers affected by rare disease, or anyone else facing what seem to be hopeless circumstances or insurmountable obstacles, this story is a wonderful reminder why you should always keep churning.

And on we churn…