Her job was to teach homemakers needed skills of the times; yet she had no concept of rural south Texas life when she left east Texas for her new job in fieldwork. The towns were as different as night and day. Her job would lead her down county roads turned to dirt through cattle guards and gates deep into desolate ranch lands.

Aletha was a reserved, yet strong-willed, and attractive woman of the period, with an adventurous streak that got her into some questionable predicaments. Because her adventures varied, she butted heads with her boss, who found some of her escapades unfashionable for a woman of her demeanor. Even with the war on and the depression still at hand, she did not suffer from any lack of lust for life. She traveled miles of road, many times in the dark of night alone, crossed the border into Mexico with only women, and lived alone in a rural Spanish town. Yet she had no fear as she went about her daily routine of educating south Texas women in needed skills. She finally left south Texas and her job, bittersweet, to be married.

This book is just as the title suggests, a delight from beginning to end. Interestingly, her daughter wrote this book after Aletha’s death when she found her memoirs, pieced them together, and had it published. I think it is a wonderful tribute to an ingenious woman of the depression era. It is a joy to read, both humorous and heartwarming, appealing to country spirited women everywhere.