Jack, born into a farming family in rural Ayrshire, Scotland, knew he was heading for a farming future. That changed when he met and married a girl from the industrial town of Kilmarnock, some three to four miles from the farm. Their fifty years of marriage were adventurous and often difficult, with five children and working in many remote locations in foreign lands. Jack discovered his passions to be engineering, construction, and poetry. Retirement to Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland, due to his wife suffering a stroke, was the thirty-sixth house move made during their marriage. His wife died the following year. Jack continues to live in Crieff but is thinking of one more move.