That one ‘thing’ Phelps sings about so passionately did not appear to him in some dramatic flash of light. It was revealed gradually; artistically woven through the everyday activities of his childhood in Tomball, Texas. In that little town, northwest of Houston, David was surrounded by a nurturing neighborhood. His parents, a CPA and an English professor, provided a no-nonsense, down-to-earth environment for their two daughters and son. It was a rural community content with the everyday activities of work, school, chores and church. It was Mayberry with sagebrush.