CANADA. Lambton County, Ontario. 1996. Noah TOWELL plays on the road with his toy wagon (built by his father Larry). He is carrying scraps of wood to a thicket of sumac trees where he will build a "fort." Rural children spend most of their summers at home playing with siblings and neighbours as schoolmates live too far away to visit. On the wagon is a sign he made to attract neigbours and passersby in the hope of giving them a kitten. Every spring on every farm, kittens are born in the countryside, often too many to be cared for. Some farmers have literally dozens of cats that inhabit the barns to help keep mouse populations in check. Cats also make good pets if paid attention to, and along with dogs, make good summer mates for rural children.