It was a bright, warm morning. Pierre stood in the backyard wearing a straw hat, a sleeveless undershirt, gloves, trousers and work boots; he was looking down the gentle slope to the alley at the back of the yard. The yard had been transformed into a vegetable garden. The first crop, peas, carrots, cabbage, leaf lettuce, radishes and onions, took up half the yard. It was well on its way, and would be ready for harvesting soon. The ground in the other half of the yard had been turned and hoed in preparation for the second planting, tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, watermelons.