Jim Poole grew up long ago on a mink farm in the small town of Sudbury, Massachusetts. During the Depression Jim went to school, watered mink and explored and enjoyed life pretty much on his own terms-a time when parents were busy and neighborhood children played outside on their own. During WWII Jim took on more adult responsi-bilities as a young farmhand, help-ing his father and older sister feed and water mink on a neighbor's mink ranch. Jim's colorful "Thumbs Out" reminiscences begin well be-fore he headed off to first grade and play out through years in Sudbury schools, college at UVM in...