WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:09.160 In nineteen seventy nine, I went to a family reunion 2 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:12.839 with my aunt and uncle in Middle Tennessee. On the 3 00:00:12.839 --> 00:00:15.400 way there, we talked a little about a strange thing 4 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:18.079 that happened to us while we were out hunting frogs 5 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:21.559 one night. We heard chatter and huffing, and then it 6 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:25.000 paced us out of the woods whatever it was. With 7 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:27.039 that on our minds, we joined the rest of the 8 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:30.039 men sitting around the front yard at my great uncle's 9 00:00:30.120 --> 00:00:35.039 house where the reunion was taking place. My uncle turned 10 00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:37.759 to my great uncle and he said, tell us about 11 00:00:37.799 --> 00:00:40.359 what you saw that night you were out raccoon hunting. 12 00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:43.399 Right away, my great uncle got a look on us 13 00:00:43.399 --> 00:00:46.719 face that I'd never seen before. It was a mix 14 00:00:46.759 --> 00:00:50.159 of bewilderment and fear, and he turned away like he 15 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:52.880 didn't hear what my uncle asked him. And then his 16 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:55.479 son said, go ahead, Dad, tell him what we saw. 17 00:00:56.600 --> 00:00:59.600 You tell them. My great uncle said under his breath, 18 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:02.640 all right, I'll tell the story, his son said, and 19 00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:07.200 he began. At that time, my dad was sixty seven 20 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:10.439 years old. He'd spent his whole life out in the woods, 21 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:14.799 hunting mostly quail and raccoons. That night they were headed 22 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:17.879 out to the land behind their house, and the property 23 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:20.840 had recently been sold and the new owner had bulldozed 24 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:23.640 the old fence line and put in a new wire fence. 25 00:01:24.760 --> 00:01:28.840 They had three dogs, two walkers, and a red bone. 26 00:01:28.920 --> 00:01:32.000 The fence was on an incline that the dogs couldn't 27 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:35.680 get over, so they had to put them over. The 28 00:01:35.719 --> 00:01:38.159 son handed the twenty two rifle to his dad and 29 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:40.879 he crossed the fence, and then my great uncle handed 30 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:44.519 the rifle over and he crossed. Two Up the hill, 31 00:01:44.680 --> 00:01:47.599 twenty five yards from the old fence was a brush pile. 32 00:01:48.280 --> 00:01:50.599 They walked in that direction and then let the dogs 33 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:53.200 off the leaves, and they began sniffing around the pile. 34 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:57.640 They had only just begun to smell the awful stench 35 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:00.400 coming from it when something stood up up in the 36 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:02.560 middle of that pole and let out a scream so 37 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:06.560 loud that it knocked them over. It was reddish brown. 38 00:02:06.680 --> 00:02:09.240 It stood eight or nine feet tall, and it was 39 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:13.280 four feet wide, and the dogs ran right back past them, 40 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:16.080 and this time they didn't have any trouble clearing that fence. 41 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:20.039 My uncle and his son stood there face to face 42 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:23.240 with it for two or three seconds until it quit screaming, 43 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:25.599 and then it jumped up on top of the wood 44 00:02:25.639 --> 00:02:27.800 pole and it leaped off and it ran up the hill. 45 00:02:29.080 --> 00:02:31.840 They turned and ran in the opposite direction back down 46 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:34.560 the hill. They didn't have much trouble getting over the 47 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:38.280 fence either. It was three hundred yards from that fence 48 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:40.800 back to the house, and neither one stopped running until 49 00:02:40.840 --> 00:02:43.439 they got there, and my uncle said he felt like 50 00:02:43.479 --> 00:02:47.039 his heart was going to explode from the effort. When 51 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:49.000 they got back to the house, my uncle asked his 52 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:52.400 son where the rifle was. Well, he didn't know. He 53 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:56.319 thought maybe he'd dropped it. The next morning, they took 54 00:02:56.319 --> 00:02:59.360 a shotgun and a thirty all six and went back 55 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:01.719 out to where they crossed the fence, and they found 56 00:03:01.719 --> 00:03:04.319 the twenty two and they got the hell out of there. 57 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:07.879 Shortly after that, my uncle sold his hounds and he 58 00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:11.360 never went hunting again. Now, I talked to his son 59 00:03:11.479 --> 00:03:15.039 several times after that reunion. I'd always ask him if 60 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:18.639 they'd ever seen that thing since that night. He said no, 61 00:03:19.080 --> 00:03:22.000 they'd never seen anything, but they did hear that exact 62 00:03:22.039 --> 00:03:26.800 same scream on two different occasions after my great uncle 63 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:30.479 passed away in nineteen eighty eight, except to go back 64 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:33.599 to get the rifle the next morning. He never stepped 65 00:03:33.639 --> 00:03:37.520 foot on that property again, and after his death, his 66 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:40.159 wife sold their place, and his son said he never 67 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:44.000 went back there again either. My great uncle never liked 68 00:03:44.039 --> 00:03:46.400 to talk about it. He didn't like for people to 69 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:49.439 know about it. He was always afraid that they would 70 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:51.919 think he was crazy or that he was a liar. 71 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:56.159 If we hadn't had our encounter while out hunting frogs, 72 00:03:56.199 --> 00:03:59.080 and my uncle hadn't shared the story with his cousin 73 00:04:00.039 --> 00:04:03.719 uncle's son, who then told them about their incident, he 74 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:06.520 might have got his wish and taken the story to 75 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:12.599 his grave. Here's my story, which happened when I was 76 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:17.079 sixteen years old. Our neighborhood backed onto a large forest 77 00:04:17.160 --> 00:04:19.720 which led right up to the I'm not even going 78 00:04:19.800 --> 00:04:26.399 to try to pronounce this zekea zeka swamp z e kiah, 79 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:29.959 which we used to explore up to the point back 80 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:33.839 along the woodlands. I had three brothers, all of whom 81 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:36.800 lived in the woods, and being the only girl, I 82 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:41.319 tagged along like a tomboy as best I could. My 83 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:44.319 oldest brother and three of his friends decided to put 84 00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:48.439 their carpentry skills into practice and spent several weeks building 85 00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:51.680 a treehouse deep in the forest, two miles back from 86 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:56.079 our neighborhood. All the materials were hauled in by hand 87 00:04:56.360 --> 00:05:01.319 or loaded on motorcycles. I was impressed with a instruction project, 88 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:03.800 but I was disappointed that it was so high off 89 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:08.839 the ground. I was afraid of heights. They hammered horizontal 90 00:05:08.920 --> 00:05:12.199 steps going up the tree, and the floor hatch door 91 00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:15.480 was a bit awkward to access, which made entering and 92 00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:20.839 exiting the treehouse a challenge. This was no treehouse for sissies. 93 00:05:21.480 --> 00:05:24.399 It was built solid and even had a small locking 94 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:29.519 sliding window to block out critters from getting in. Back 95 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:32.959 in those days, this was the nineteen eighties, all the 96 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:36.759 young people seemed to roam wild with little or no supervision. 97 00:05:37.639 --> 00:05:40.040 I have no idea how we kept this treehouse a 98 00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:42.879 secret from our parents for so long, but it was 99 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:45.959 where we all went to smoke cigarettes and drink Boone's 100 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:50.319 farm or beer. Don't forget the Mad Dog twenty twenty, 101 00:05:50.839 --> 00:05:54.439 MD twenty Mogan David twenty twenty. We called it mad Dog. 102 00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:58.879 Lot of people my age will remember that. Anyway. One 103 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:02.079 of my friends hear was Debbie. She got the idea 104 00:06:02.199 --> 00:06:04.000 that it might be fun to spend the night in 105 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:08.639 the treehouse. Besides being afraid of heights, I wasn't overly 106 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:12.480 king on pitch black woods either, but hey, you're only 107 00:06:12.519 --> 00:06:15.000 a teen once, so I agreed it might be fun. 108 00:06:16.600 --> 00:06:18.519 We lied to our parents and we told them we 109 00:06:18.519 --> 00:06:22.160 were spending the night at the other person's house, and 110 00:06:22.199 --> 00:06:24.279 we packed what we needed for the night to stay 111 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:28.720 in the treehouse, including sleeping bags, candles, magazines, and food. 112 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:32.720 We hiked into the woods and settled into the treehouse 113 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:36.399 before dark. We were grubbing on junk food and talking 114 00:06:36.439 --> 00:06:39.480 about school and things that girls talk about at sixteen, 115 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:42.720 and we didn't tell anyone we were going to sleep 116 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:45.720 in the treehouse for fear that someone would try to 117 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:49.800 spoil the fun for us. We settled in for the night. 118 00:06:50.199 --> 00:06:53.759 It was quiet in the woods, unusually quiet up until 119 00:06:53.800 --> 00:06:57.959 something struck the side of the treehouse. We both stopped 120 00:06:57.959 --> 00:07:01.480 talking and we noticed the smell. All it was like 121 00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:09.000 rotting trash. Oh, you guys, I just have the best 122 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:12.759 imaginations for a riting trash. Isn't that funny? But I 123 00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:15.000 think when I come up on smells, I always just 124 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:18.360 naturally laughed. Anyway, She writes, I looked at Debbie and 125 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:21.720 I wondered what she ate earlier that day, and then 126 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:24.040 she pinched her nose, and I knew the smell was 127 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:29.800 coming from outside. And then bang, something hit the treehouse again, 128 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:33.680 but it was much bigger. We were both very frightened, 129 00:07:33.959 --> 00:07:37.360 and we heard grunting sounds and scraping at the bottom 130 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:41.199 of the treehouse. We locked the hatch, which was made 131 00:07:41.240 --> 00:07:44.439 of wood and was almost invisible to the eye from outside, 132 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:46.600 as the boys had made it look like a part 133 00:07:46.600 --> 00:07:50.519 of the flooring from underneath. But the thing wasted no 134 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:53.839 time in finding it, and it tried to slide it open, 135 00:07:54.279 --> 00:07:58.720 or so it seemed to us. I said directly on 136 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:01.639 top of the hatch, and Debbie was in a panic. 137 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:04.639 I was too scared to be in a panic, and 138 00:08:04.680 --> 00:08:07.240 I sat frozen like a statue, and I prayed with 139 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:10.480 all my heart for this thing to go away. I 140 00:08:10.600 --> 00:08:14.079 kept thinking that we were going to die. This thing 141 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:17.319 was way too determined to figure out how to get inside. 142 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:22.279 The trees that supported the treehouse were very substantial, and 143 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:26.079 you could never imagine someone could actually shake them, and 144 00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:28.759 I could barely get my arms around them, but the 145 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:34.159 treehouse shook slightly, and then we heard funny sounds. I 146 00:08:34.200 --> 00:08:37.960 don't remember exactly what they were, but they sounded like gibberish. 147 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:42.200 Maybe there was more than one, we couldn't tell. We 148 00:08:42.279 --> 00:08:45.200 heard the loud footsteps and undergrowth of the leaves and 149 00:08:45.320 --> 00:08:48.799 sticks snapping, and I decided to blow out the candle. 150 00:08:49.879 --> 00:08:52.120 And then I walked over to one of the small windows, 151 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:54.840 which had a sliding covers, and I tried to peek out, 152 00:08:55.240 --> 00:08:58.279 but it was so dark that I couldn't see. And 153 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:01.919 I shut the window back and I locked it, and 154 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:05.039 then it or they started scraping the bottom of the 155 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:08.759 treehouse again, and this went on for a long time. 156 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:14.559 After a while, we were both exhausted from fear. Things 157 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:18.679 started landing on the roof of the treehouse too. Debbie 158 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:21.440 had big blue eyes and she kept staring at me 159 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:25.200 with them wide open. We spoke with our eyes, occasionally 160 00:09:25.240 --> 00:09:29.600 closing them tight. We were afraid to speak, and I 161 00:09:29.639 --> 00:09:32.320 wanted them to think that we were asleep. I didn't 162 00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:35.039 know what to do or think. I just wanted to 163 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:39.799 be in my own bed back home. After several hours 164 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:43.960 of banging, things hitting the treehouse and shaking and scraping, 165 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:49.000 things started to quiet down just before sunrise, and then 166 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:52.919 we heard a loud, roaring growl sound, but unlike anything 167 00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:55.879 else we had heard before, and it felt like it 168 00:09:55.919 --> 00:09:58.879 could easily have pulled the treehouse down and gotten inside 169 00:09:58.919 --> 00:10:02.320 after hearing that, and I knew it was really big, 170 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:07.080 whatever this thing was. And then it went totally quiet 171 00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:12.320 and everything stop. We waited for a couple of hours 172 00:10:12.519 --> 00:10:16.080 after they left, never speaking a word, until finally I 173 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:19.759 said that we should take a look outside. By this 174 00:10:19.879 --> 00:10:22.960 time it was seven a m. And I whispered that 175 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:25.480 we should leave very quietly and leave all of our 176 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:28.279 stuff there and run like hell. Once we got down 177 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:33.399 to the ground, she nodded and was softly crying, and 178 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:35.919 I slid the hatch open and popped my head through 179 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:38.480 to look as best as I could, and I didn't 180 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:42.120 see anything, and we went for it and we ran 181 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:45.000 like hell. And as soon as we got home, we 182 00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:47.879 woke the boys and told them all about our experience. 183 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:52.000 They called their friends and went back to retrieve our 184 00:10:52.039 --> 00:10:54.639 stuff for us and have a look around. Two of 185 00:10:54.679 --> 00:10:58.279 the boys took rifles. My older brothers said that we 186 00:10:58.279 --> 00:11:00.720 were pretty stupid for going back there for the night, 187 00:11:01.240 --> 00:11:03.440 and we agreed. He was not going to get any 188 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:07.759 argument from us. They said it was probably a bear 189 00:11:08.200 --> 00:11:11.639 or the goat man, and they teased us for months 190 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:16.440 following this event, but I knew they believed us. Needless 191 00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:18.759 to say, Debbie and I never went back there again 192 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:23.480 at night. I moved up north after high school, and 193 00:11:23.559 --> 00:11:27.200 I lost touch with Debbie. I found her on Facebook 194 00:11:27.240 --> 00:11:30.159 a few years later, and we chatted online a bit, 195 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:34.320 and then one night I messaged her and asked her 196 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:37.559 if she remembered that night in the treehouse, and I 197 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:39.960 asked her if she would share what she remembered so 198 00:11:40.039 --> 00:11:44.000 I could fill in some of the blanks. She never replied. 199 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:47.840 I messaged her three times and I tried to rephrase 200 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:52.000 my question being careful and considerate, but I got nothing 201 00:11:52.039 --> 00:11:59.639 from her. She never replied back at all. Because I'm 202 00:11:59.639 --> 00:12:03.440 in my seventies now, long past caring about what others 203 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:07.679 think of me, I'm not sure I ever did. I've 204 00:12:07.720 --> 00:12:10.440 lived much of my life in South Carolina, but in 205 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:13.200 my forties we bought a place in New Mexico on 206 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:17.480 the checkerboard, a mix of federal state and counties in 207 00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:23.000 Navajo Zuni and private land. Any major issue out there 208 00:12:23.080 --> 00:12:28.000 brought a real assortment of law enforcement officers. We were 209 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:30.480 planning to build a cabin and live there for the 210 00:12:30.519 --> 00:12:33.679 two years that it would ultimately take to complete the 211 00:12:33.720 --> 00:12:38.720 renovations on our business location in Charleston. Many of my 212 00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:41.639 neighbors there lived by the tenant that we are all 213 00:12:41.720 --> 00:12:45.519 here because we are not all there. It is a 214 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:51.600 land of rebels, misfits, and highly independent people. One Navajo 215 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:54.200 man told me that everyone who lived out there on 216 00:12:54.240 --> 00:13:00.159 our patch of private land were tax dodgers, small time crooks, crazies, 217 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:04.799 marijuana growers, and fugitives, and then he advised me that 218 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:08.879 we should move. He was a nice man, and after 219 00:13:08.919 --> 00:13:11.840 that he checked on me from time to time and 220 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:16.000 became a real friend. Once we settled in, I would 221 00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:18.840 often stay home when my husband went to grants or 222 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:22.720 gallop for building supplies, so it was not unusual for 223 00:13:22.840 --> 00:13:27.320 me to be out exploring on my four wheeler alone. 224 00:13:27.480 --> 00:13:30.279 I rode all over our fifty acres and out onto 225 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:33.200 the state and federal land. I was in the woods 226 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:36.679 a lot by myself, learning the area and getting acquainted 227 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:40.720 with the flora and the fauna. We do have both 228 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:43.480 black bears and mountain lions, but I have only seen 229 00:13:43.639 --> 00:13:47.360 mountain lions from time to time. I haven't thought about 230 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:51.320 these incidents since two thousand and three, but your stories 231 00:13:51.480 --> 00:13:54.600 brought them back to me. It all seems just as 232 00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:59.039 surreal now as it did back then. It was on 233 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:01.440 one of those occasions undes, when I was home alone, 234 00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:05.200 that it all began. I was clearing brush from around 235 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:08.360 our camping trailer building a fire pit one day with 236 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:12.000 my cattle dog. I was quite focused on what I 237 00:14:12.120 --> 00:14:14.960 was doing when I was suddenly overcome by a sense 238 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:18.519 that I was being watched. I looked around me, but 239 00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:23.240 I saw nothing. We are on a high plateau and 240 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:26.720 our land is pretty flat, with sparse trees and almost 241 00:14:26.759 --> 00:14:30.480 no bushes. Because at that time cattle grazed on the 242 00:14:30.519 --> 00:14:35.320 subdivided ranch our place was part of, it was reasonable 243 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:37.200 that I would have been able to see anything out 244 00:14:37.240 --> 00:14:40.759 of place nearby, and I continued working for a few 245 00:14:40.759 --> 00:14:44.320 minutes until an odor came over me. It was a 246 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:48.440 smell of a poorly tinded garbage dump, with overtones of 247 00:14:48.519 --> 00:14:52.919 dead things and a touch of heaven only knows what else. 248 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:57.240 I paused at what I was doing and looked at 249 00:14:57.240 --> 00:14:59.720 my dog to see if she was reacting to anything 250 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:03.120 she could not have done a better point had she 251 00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:06.519 been trained to do it. Now, this was a dog 252 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:09.639 who regularly chased cows away from our place and had 253 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:13.200 no fear of large animals. She was, after all, a 254 00:15:13.240 --> 00:15:17.399 blue healer. Her reactions put my senses on high alert, 255 00:15:17.639 --> 00:15:21.080 and I looked around me. First, I looked at our 256 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:24.080 camper trailer and decided that anything that wanted to get 257 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:27.240 into it would have no trouble. I then turned to 258 00:15:27.320 --> 00:15:29.919 my old Dodge truck, and I decided that it was 259 00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:34.159 a better choice. When I opened the door, my dog 260 00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:37.759 practically ran over me to get in the truck. That 261 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:41.039 was not terribly alarming. She loved to drive in the truck, 262 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:45.399 but she didn't stop there. She got onto the floorboard 263 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:48.919 and curled up into a tight little ball well. I 264 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:51.919 was inspired to join her as quickly as possible, and 265 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:55.480 I locked the doors behind me. I was living in 266 00:15:55.519 --> 00:15:57.720 the hope that the truck would be more secure than 267 00:15:57.720 --> 00:16:01.399 the camper. Also, at that moment, I vowed to carry 268 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:04.440 a truck key with me from now on, as it 269 00:16:04.600 --> 00:16:09.000 was I was going nowhere. We sat there for ten 270 00:16:09.080 --> 00:16:11.600 minutes before I rolled down the window enough to tell 271 00:16:11.639 --> 00:16:14.480 that the smell was gone, and I got out and 272 00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:19.519 blithely went back to work. My dog chose to stay 273 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:21.840 in the truck, so I left the door open for her, 274 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:24.639 and by the time my husband got home, I had 275 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:27.519 pretty much forgotten about it, and I felt pretty silly 276 00:16:27.559 --> 00:16:31.200 for hiding in the truck just because I smelled something stinky. 277 00:16:32.919 --> 00:16:36.799 After that, my life went back to normal. I still 278 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:38.960 rode my four wheeler and I hiked all over the 279 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:42.600 place by myself. I was just happy to be outdoors 280 00:16:42.600 --> 00:16:46.840 and free to roam. My dog had evidently forgotten about 281 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:49.919 it as well. She was always the first one on 282 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:52.039 the four wheeler when I would go for a ride, 283 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:55.080 and always on my heels when I went for a hike. 284 00:16:57.279 --> 00:17:00.360 Five years later, I was heading to a potline at 285 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:03.440 a friend's place. I was about two miles from my 286 00:17:03.559 --> 00:17:05.839 turn when I came to a curve known for the 287 00:17:05.880 --> 00:17:10.119 seasonal build up of mud or snow. If we made 288 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:13.079 it through the curve without getting stuck, we'd always give 289 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:16.960 a short prayer of thanks for doing so. As I 290 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:19.440 came out of the curve, I saw a large dark 291 00:17:19.559 --> 00:17:22.319 form that my brain tried to twist into the form 292 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:26.559 of a cow flailing miserably I was unable to accept 293 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:29.880 that realization, and my mind went to a black bear. 294 00:17:31.480 --> 00:17:34.039 That week, a black bear had broken into a woman's 295 00:17:34.119 --> 00:17:37.559 kitchen and killed her. So black bears was already on 296 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:41.640 my mind, except bears don't run on three legs, and 297 00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:45.559 this thing did. It loped along beside me between one 298 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:49.400 hundred and two hundred feet to my left. I couldn't 299 00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:52.160 go any faster than about ten miles per hour on 300 00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:55.880 that road, so it had no trouble pacing me. It 301 00:17:56.000 --> 00:17:58.519 stayed with me until the last thousand feet or so 302 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:03.119 of gravel. It didn't feel threatening, and it didn't seem 303 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:08.519 to tire. It just loped along beside me. I told 304 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:10.880 the woman that the pot luck about it, and one 305 00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:13.440 of them, who had lived out there for decades, called 306 00:18:13.480 --> 00:18:16.240 me several days later and asked me to come over. 307 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:19.240 She had a medicine man at her place and she 308 00:18:19.319 --> 00:18:23.240 wanted us to talk. He listened to my story, and 309 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:25.200 he told me that it was one of the elder 310 00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:27.599 brothers and that I need not be afraid of it. 311 00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:31.960 My friend paid him the customary gift of tobacco, and 312 00:18:32.039 --> 00:18:35.799 he went on his way. We'll be going back to 313 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:38.240 New Mexico in a month or so, and this memory 314 00:18:38.279 --> 00:18:41.440 will not keep me out of the woods. Sadly, my 315 00:18:41.559 --> 00:18:45.440 dog has been gone for years. My walks will be solitary, 316 00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:47.720 and there will be more seat room in the four 317 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:50.920 wheeler without her. And now I'm going to have to 318 00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:53.880 go have a good cry over my long lost cattle 319 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:57.759 dog her. That's not the end of the story. But 320 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:02.119 she's the name of her cattle dog, and I don't 321 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:05.119 want her to hear this and not think that I 322 00:19:05.240 --> 00:19:08.839 at least attempted to pronounce the name of the cattle dog. 323 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:13.039 But the name of her dog is I think pittile 324 00:19:13.079 --> 00:19:17.000 a pitie. I'm trying to find it here, p I 325 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:22.759 T A l e a h. Anybody know what that says. 326 00:19:22.839 --> 00:19:25.920 I don't know, and I didn't want to mispronounce it. 327 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:27.880 But now that I've gotten to this point in the 328 00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:31.440 story and she has very fond memories of her dog, ma'am, 329 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:34.000 I'm I'm just I don't want you to feel insulted. 330 00:19:34.119 --> 00:19:37.000 I didn't pronounce your dog's name, or say your dog's name, 331 00:19:37.319 --> 00:19:39.599 but I just don't think I'm pronouncing it right, So 332 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:43.880 I'm sorry. But the dog's name is Pittile a pital 333 00:19:44.200 --> 00:19:49.039 pittlee okay on with the story. If you're still with me, 334 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:53.880 I have also seen a UFO. In nineteen eighty nine, 335 00:19:54.039 --> 00:19:58.759 Charleston was ravaged by Hurricane Hugo. The path of the 336 00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:01.480 storm left a wound that would take years to heal. 337 00:20:02.680 --> 00:20:04.319 I was a part of a group of people that 338 00:20:04.359 --> 00:20:08.039 were seekers. The seeking led us to a healing tradition 339 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:13.200 that has its roots in antiquity, and in parentheses, she says, 340 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:18.880 it's called reiche r e I k I riky reiki 341 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:22.599 I don't know. We came together one night to receive 342 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:26.680 an invitation into the healing form. We met at a 343 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:30.839 hairdresser's shop to take the class. In the middle of 344 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:33.599 the evening, I can't remember the hour. We took a 345 00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:36.160 break and we were told to go sit and think 346 00:20:36.200 --> 00:20:38.680 about what we had been told and to make sure 347 00:20:38.759 --> 00:20:42.519 that we wanted to continue. There wasn't a lot of 348 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:45.160 space for us to spread out inside the shop, and 349 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:48.200 it was a beautiful, starry night, so my friend and 350 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:51.880 I went to sit in her car. We'd been sitting 351 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:54.599 there talking a little and thinking a lot, and when 352 00:20:54.599 --> 00:20:58.200 she said what is that? She was leaning over her 353 00:20:58.240 --> 00:21:02.039 steering wheel, looking up while leaned forward as well, and 354 00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:05.279 I saw nothing. And then I remembered that it was 355 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:08.480 a beautiful story night, I should at least be able 356 00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:12.000 to see the stars. In fact, they were all around us, 357 00:21:12.039 --> 00:21:15.640 just not directly over us. We got out of the 358 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:20.359 car and watched as a massive triangular shaped object passed overhead. 359 00:21:20.839 --> 00:21:22.440 And then we got back in the car and we 360 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:26.880 sat there stunned. Later that evening we checked in on 361 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:30.039 each other just to make sure we saw what we 362 00:21:30.119 --> 00:21:33.799 thought we saw. The following day, there was an article 363 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:36.960 in the news and courier about a UFO that had 364 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:40.319 been seen on a path from Charleston to Columbia. And 365 00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:45.200 beyond the whole experience of seeing something by virtue of 366 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:48.359 not seeing the stars, something that must have been an 367 00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:53.079 acre in size, still leaves me speechless. My friend and 368 00:21:53.160 --> 00:21:55.759 I talk about this incident once in a while, just 369 00:21:55.799 --> 00:21:59.519 to check in and validate our sanity. Well, those are 370 00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:06.240 my story reason. Thanks for listening, MHM.