WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:10.039 My bigfoot encounter happened in the summer of my eighth year. 2 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:14.320 We lived on the outskirts of Bates Full, Arkansas, on 3 00:00:14.359 --> 00:00:17.800 a farm. At this age, I spent every minute that 4 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:22.120 I could outside. On a hot day in July, I 5 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:25.559 was making my rounds around our place. I spent a 6 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:28.559 lot of time looking for critters around a big pond 7 00:00:28.760 --> 00:00:33.280 on the northwest corner of our land. Catching frogs and 8 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:36.560 turtles and snakes was one of my favorite things to do. 9 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:40.439 It was an ordinary day, really. Birds were chirping and 10 00:00:40.520 --> 00:00:44.640 insects were singing. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until 11 00:00:44.679 --> 00:00:49.159 all the noise from the nearby wildlife stopped. I noticed 12 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:52.880 it right away. At that moment, I was ankled deep 13 00:00:52.920 --> 00:00:56.640 in the water and mud. I stopped looking for animals, 14 00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:59.320 and I tried to take it all in. It was 15 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:02.280 like the moon of that place went dark and time 16 00:01:02.439 --> 00:01:06.359 slowed down. But I couldn't figure out why. My dog 17 00:01:06.439 --> 00:01:08.920 moved around in front of me, looking at a huge 18 00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:12.760 oak tree across the fence. We both stared at it 19 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:15.799 for a minute. Maybe he knew what was there, but 20 00:01:15.879 --> 00:01:19.640 I couldn't see anything. When you look at something long enough, 21 00:01:19.959 --> 00:01:22.760 shapes began to form, and I saw what looked like 22 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:26.840 a man hiding behind the tree, maybe the outline of 23 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:30.640 his shoulder and a leg. My dog began to growl. 24 00:01:30.920 --> 00:01:35.120 Something was there. I caught a whiff of a strange 25 00:01:35.159 --> 00:01:37.879 odor that I mistook for the mud I was standing 26 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:41.280 in walk around in a muddy pond, and all sorts 27 00:01:41.319 --> 00:01:45.319 of smells boil up, but this odor was different. I 28 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:48.719 walked towards the tree to sea better. At this point, 29 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:52.439 I was only fifteen or twenty yards away from the tree, 30 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:55.079 I saw a hand wrap around a branch that was 31 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:58.920 six feet above the ground. I've never seen anything like 32 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:04.719 It looked like an FX effect from a horror movie. 33 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:07.920 I expected to see its face peak around the trunk 34 00:02:07.959 --> 00:02:10.360 because the way it was moving was like it wanted 35 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:13.439 to look at me, but it never did. I just 36 00:02:13.479 --> 00:02:16.159 stared at that hand. I couldn't take my eyes off 37 00:02:16.199 --> 00:02:20.120 of it. The skin was dark gray, with dark brown, 38 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:25.039 almost black hair covering all but the fingers. The nails 39 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:29.680 were long and black. They actually looked perfectly groomed from 40 00:02:29.719 --> 00:02:33.599 that distance, but I'm sure they weren't. The nails looked 41 00:02:33.639 --> 00:02:36.599 like a woman's nails after she has had a manicure. 42 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:41.039 They were long and symmetrical, and the knuckles were oversized 43 00:02:41.080 --> 00:02:44.400 and obvious. But one thing I knew for sure, I 44 00:02:44.439 --> 00:02:48.479 did not want those hands on me. Its hands were giant, 45 00:02:48.599 --> 00:02:51.599 and it could have completely covered my eight year old head. 46 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:55.680 Something cracked in the brush grown up around the tree, 47 00:02:55.680 --> 00:02:58.719 and my dog left me sprinting straight to the house 48 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:02.360 a quarter mile away. I was right behind him, running 49 00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:05.879 hard and barefoot through that field. I made it home 50 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:10.080 in record time. I never told my folks what I saw. 51 00:03:10.199 --> 00:03:13.319 I probably should have. I was eight years old and 52 00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:16.599 I didn't know what to do. Later in years, I 53 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:19.080 told one of my friends, and he believes me. He 54 00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:24.159 has had an encounter himself. I also confided in my wife. 55 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:28.680 She thinks I'm crazy. I know what I saw. I'm 56 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:31.319 now twenty two years old, and I've had one more 57 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:35.919 encounter since then. I'll send that at another time. Thanks 58 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:38.919 for telling my story. I know I can't spell worth 59 00:03:38.919 --> 00:03:45.520 the crap. Dyslexia is my enemy. Oh man, uh No, 60 00:03:45.719 --> 00:03:48.159 I can't spell worth the crap either. I mean sometimes 61 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:50.719 I even put marquees on these videos and I spell 62 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:53.240 the word wrong. I should do a spell check, I guess, 63 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:55.520 but I don't know. I get a little impatient, and 64 00:03:55.520 --> 00:03:57.319 it looks good to me, so I'll let it fly 65 00:03:57.439 --> 00:04:00.520 in dyslexia. Dude, you wrote a good story. I fixed 66 00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:02.080 it up for you. That was a couple of things 67 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:04.960 I didn't understand, but I got it straight. So it's 68 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:07.639 a good story. And uh, I know Batesville. I've got 69 00:04:07.719 --> 00:04:10.759 my family has a place over there, close to Grier's 70 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:14.039 Ferry go through Braatesville every time we go over there. 71 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:17.480 Love that racetrack over there in Batesville. I've never been 72 00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:19.480 to a racetrack, but I like driving by it, and 73 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:21.120 every time I drive by it, I think I'm gonna 74 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:23.399 go to the races here one summer, but I never 75 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:27.480 have been able to. But anyways, a great story. And dude, 76 00:04:27.480 --> 00:04:29.839 if you get a minute to write that other encounter, 77 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:32.000 make sure and send it to me. All right, I 78 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:38.040 appreciate it. Let's go to the next one. Okay, this 79 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:42.920 story is a paranormal story. I don't know if it's true. 80 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:47.439 I think it's probably not, but it's a damn good story. 81 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:50.399 So you know the drill, put that chin strap on 82 00:04:50.439 --> 00:04:53.480 your twope, glue your dentures in because this is a 83 00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:56.240 good one. All right, Let's get going with it. In 84 00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:59.240 nineteen eighty five, I was traveling in the northwest part 85 00:04:59.319 --> 00:05:02.639 of Utah. I was dozing off behind the wheel, so 86 00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:05.680 I opted to pull into a hotel motel for the night. 87 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:09.959 After I flipped the mattress over for a quick bedbug 88 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:14.319 check and search the fixtures for video cameras. You never 89 00:05:14.360 --> 00:05:17.360 know about these out of the way places. I flopped 90 00:05:17.399 --> 00:05:20.839 down on the bed. For whatever reason, I couldn't get 91 00:05:20.839 --> 00:05:23.680 the television to work, so I gave up and thumbed 92 00:05:23.720 --> 00:05:27.920 through a small stack of magazines on the nightstand. An 93 00:05:28.040 --> 00:05:31.240 article caught my eye about an old silver mining town. 94 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:34.839 It stated that a theater company was willing to pay 95 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:38.800 for new hires to serve as re enactors portraying characters 96 00:05:38.839 --> 00:05:42.639 from the Old West for tourists. With visions of the 97 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:45.560 movie westwarld in my head. I tore out the article 98 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:48.720 and shoved it in my duffel bag. What did I care? 99 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:51.439 I thought might be fun to step out of my 100 00:05:51.480 --> 00:05:54.399 boring life for a while to pretend to be someone else. 101 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:59.319 After several weeks of phone calls and background checks, I 102 00:05:59.399 --> 00:06:02.120 was offered to job as a saloon of pharaoh dealer. 103 00:06:02.839 --> 00:06:05.759 When I arrived, I noted how exact a replica of 104 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:08.920 the place was of an old West town. It was 105 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:11.759 overrun with tourists, but you could easily tell who the 106 00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:15.439 workers were by their old fashioned dress. All I was 107 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:19.120 dressed for my part, looking like Hugh O'Brien's character in 108 00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:22.759 the John Wayne movie The Shootest. I tried to copy 109 00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:26.560 Hugh O'Brien's cocky arrogance, but thankfully I never had to 110 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:29.680 defend myself against any soret of losers that lost at 111 00:06:29.720 --> 00:06:34.079 my pharaoh table. The tourists thought my act was a hoop, 112 00:06:34.439 --> 00:06:38.360 and it was all in good fun. Once we closed, 113 00:06:38.439 --> 00:06:41.519 my other duties involved making the rounds and securing the 114 00:06:41.560 --> 00:06:44.879 place for the night. Late one evening, I decided to 115 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:47.240 stay and enjoy the solitude of the mountains in the 116 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:52.160 background and the starry skies above. I found myself back 117 00:06:52.199 --> 00:06:54.600 at the saloon with nothing to do, so I sat 118 00:06:54.600 --> 00:06:57.519 at my table and began to practice some new card moves. 119 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:01.600 There was no smoking loud on the premises, but the 120 00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:04.480 air began to fill with the smell of burning tobacco. 121 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:07.839 Now I thought my coworkers were pulling a joke, or 122 00:07:08.040 --> 00:07:11.279 that a couple of stray tourists had trespassed onto the 123 00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:16.079 place after hours. There was a distinct sound of boot shuffling, 124 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:19.519 as if a crowd of invisible line dancers had suddenly 125 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:23.079 taken the floor. Well. My heart jumped into my mouth 126 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:26.759 when a player piano roared into life and began pumping 127 00:07:26.759 --> 00:07:32.160 out a saloon worthy rendition of Camptown Ladies. I found 128 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:36.399 myself face to face with a trio of reenactors, one 129 00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:40.959 portraying a cowboy and two playing miners. They pulled out 130 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:44.480 chairs at my table and they sat down. Why didn't 131 00:07:44.519 --> 00:07:48.639 recognize them? What did you guys start working here? I asked, 132 00:07:49.560 --> 00:07:51.800 Are you going to deal the cards? Just sit there? 133 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:56.199 One of the miners demanded, someone is having a big 134 00:07:56.279 --> 00:07:59.639 laugh at my expense, I thought, so I played along 135 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:04.319 and off the first hand. The three bellowed for drinks. 136 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:08.720 An actress playing a pretty saloon girl who I didn't recognize, 137 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:11.959 brought over a tray and set it off to the side. 138 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:15.319 The three men down their booze in one gulp and 139 00:08:15.399 --> 00:08:18.800 turned their attention back to the game. By then the 140 00:08:18.839 --> 00:08:23.439 bar was filled and every patron was dressed in period clothing, 141 00:08:23.639 --> 00:08:28.160 as was I all night long. The cowboy had been 142 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:32.639 losing badly. He made a derogatory remark about my Faroh 143 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:37.720 dealing skills. Thinking this was all play acting, I summoned 144 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:41.080 my inner Hugh Bryan, and I told him, you have 145 00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:46.399 two ways of leaving this establishment, my friend immediately or dead. 146 00:08:48.039 --> 00:08:51.159 Like Hugh Brian's character. I love watching a beaten man 147 00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:55.240 leave the room. The cowboy shuffled dejectedly across the bar 148 00:08:55.320 --> 00:08:58.720 and made his exit through the swinging doors look out. 149 00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:02.279 Someone yelled A few seconds later as the entire place 150 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:06.919 dove for cover. The cowboy reappeared in the doorway brandishing 151 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:10.600 a gun. I heard his blank cartridge whizz by me 152 00:09:10.840 --> 00:09:13.919 as I instinctively raised my own gun and took him 153 00:09:13.960 --> 00:09:17.440 down with one shot to the heart. The cheer went 154 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:20.039 up throughout the bar as a couple of patrons dragged 155 00:09:20.039 --> 00:09:24.480 the cowboy's body out the exit. I holistered my pistol 156 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:28.080 and continued the game, And in that moment I really 157 00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:31.039 was Hugh Bryan, and all the characters in the saloon 158 00:09:31.159 --> 00:09:35.279 feared and respected me. I told the two actors playing 159 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:37.720 the miners that I was shutting down the Faroh table 160 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:41.759 for the night. They chose not to complain and passively 161 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:45.080 made their way out the exit. I assumed the other 162 00:09:45.159 --> 00:09:48.879 staff in the bar, detracted by their partying, would close up, 163 00:09:48.919 --> 00:09:51.960 so I made my way out, and as my boots 164 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:54.720 kicked up the dirt, I thought I saw someone sleeping 165 00:09:54.759 --> 00:09:57.840 on a bench in front of the General's store. It 166 00:09:57.960 --> 00:10:01.399 was the cowboy I had pretended to shoot. Wake up, 167 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:05.759 I said, as I nudged him, Except he wasn't asleep. 168 00:10:06.840 --> 00:10:10.879 I noted the dry blood across his chest. I turned 169 00:10:10.919 --> 00:10:13.799 and ran back to the saloon to summon help. I 170 00:10:13.799 --> 00:10:16.600 could hear the player piano, but as I entered I 171 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:21.000 saw the place was deserted. The gravity of the situation 172 00:10:21.320 --> 00:10:23.519 was dawning on me that I had just shot and 173 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:25.879 killed a man in front of a saloon full of 174 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:30.039 eye witnesses who had suddenly vanished. I rushed back to 175 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:33.159 the general store, thinking I could still help the cowboy 176 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:36.519 if it wasn't too late. But he had gone missing, too, 177 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:42.360 had my fellow re enactors removed the body. I checked 178 00:10:42.360 --> 00:10:45.120 the blanks in my colt and counted five still in 179 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:49.519 the cylinder. There were two unaccounted for mine and his. 180 00:10:50.840 --> 00:10:53.840 I searched every inch of that saloon and couldntfideen neither 181 00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:57.840 had someone found the spent cartridges and taken those two 182 00:10:59.480 --> 00:11:01.720 somewhere in panic had occurred to me that I was 183 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:05.360 being prank. You can't kill people across the room firing 184 00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:09.159 only blanks, and dead bodies don't go missing, and large 185 00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:13.000 groups of rowdy bar patrons don't disappear without a trace. 186 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:18.720 The next day, I took my coworkers to task, congratulating 187 00:11:18.759 --> 00:11:22.519 them on pulling off such an elaborate hoax. No one 188 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:26.159 seemed to know what I was talking about. A few 189 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:29.000 humored be enough to listen as I recounted the events 190 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:32.720 from the night before. You say you heard music coming 191 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:36.080 from this piano, asked one of them. He swept his 192 00:11:36.120 --> 00:11:39.159 hand down the keyboard, but the instrument produced no sound. 193 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:45.360 This piano doesn't have hammers, he continued. It's a prop. Well, 194 00:11:45.399 --> 00:11:48.879 I shook my head. I'm starting to feel somewhere between 195 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:53.720 foolish and possibly insane. You know your characters based on 196 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:57.039 a real guy, he added, I had assumed there was 197 00:11:57.120 --> 00:11:59.399 no history behind any of the people that we were 198 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:04.279 supposed to be portraying. Some cowboy drifter didn't like his cards, 199 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:07.440 so he and the pharaoh dealer got into it. Continued 200 00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:11.600 the co worker the Pharaoh Dealer shot him dead. The 201 00:12:11.639 --> 00:12:14.759 next night, a gang of cowboys rode into town and 202 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:17.480 took care of the Pharaoh Dealer. You want to hang 203 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:21.720 around and see what happens to your character tonight? They 204 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:25.799 all started laughing at my so called ghost story, real 205 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:30.600 or imagine? I knew I was know Hugh O'Brien. It 206 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:34.360 was boring old me that removed my gun belt and 207 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:40.159 bid my farewells and got the hell out of dodge. 208 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:44.000 I live in a small town in north Mississippi, right 209 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:48.039 below the Tennessee state line in Benton County. This person 210 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:51.639 is my neighbor, one county over. In two thousand and nine, 211 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:54.519 I was going through a nasty divorce and a custody battle. 212 00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:56.919 My one year old daughter and I had to move 213 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:00.960 in with my parents. They own thirty eight and after 214 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:03.639 all of us kids moved out, they converted the barn 215 00:13:03.799 --> 00:13:07.759 into a two bedroom cabin. Growing up, I always had 216 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:10.759 a weird feeling that I couldn't explain when I would 217 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:14.320 be in the barn alone feeding or messing with the horses, 218 00:13:14.759 --> 00:13:19.360 even though I never had any paranormal experiences. My daughter 219 00:13:19.480 --> 00:13:22.120 slept in a pack and play because I was unable 220 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:24.120 to bring her crip with us when we had to 221 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:28.360 leave our former home. Around three thirty am on this 222 00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:31.840 particular night, I was in that state where you're asleep 223 00:13:31.960 --> 00:13:34.960 but still kind of aware of what's going on around you, 224 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:39.879 and I heard a voice say, she's waking up. Opened 225 00:13:39.879 --> 00:13:43.480 my eyes and I saw two little twin girl ghosts 226 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:47.080 who looked to be around eight years old. They wore 227 00:13:47.159 --> 00:13:51.000 antique dresses and their hair was fixed in ringlet curls, 228 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:55.039 just like a pair of Victorian porcelain dolls. Both of 229 00:13:55.080 --> 00:13:57.240 them were sitting in front of the pack and play 230 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:01.480 with their legs crossed, looking at my daughter. They must 231 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:04.279 have realized they were being watched by me as they 232 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:08.279 took flight and exited the room. It felt like all 233 00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:11.919 the energy left with them. My daughter slept through the 234 00:14:11.960 --> 00:14:14.799 hole encounter, but I was so scared that I just 235 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:18.639 laid there wide away. I never believed in ghosts until 236 00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:22.639 that night. I don't think they had any ill intent. 237 00:14:23.399 --> 00:14:25.759 I got the feeling that they were behaving like normal 238 00:14:25.879 --> 00:14:30.639 girls around that age, fascinated by the baby. My parents 239 00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:35.399 still continued to experience paranormal activity in the house, though 240 00:14:35.399 --> 00:14:38.080 none of the spirits appeared to be menacing or threatening. 241 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:41.840 My mother witnessed the ghost of a little boy dressed 242 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:45.879 in Civil War era clothing and swore as she detected 243 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:49.559 the scent of a woman's perfume in the hallway. And 244 00:14:49.639 --> 00:14:52.240 my sister once saw the figure of a man dressed 245 00:14:52.279 --> 00:14:56.320 in cowboy clothing. She said he seemed more interested in 246 00:14:56.399 --> 00:15:00.919 tending to his chores than bothering with her. There's a 247 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:04.440 dark history to the place. It was once burnt to 248 00:15:04.519 --> 00:15:07.039 the ground during the Civil War and rebuilt on the 249 00:15:07.080 --> 00:15:10.840 same site. There were rumors of a family with three 250 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:14.960 small children buried nearby and on mark graves. It was 251 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:19.159 assumed that they were bystanders caught in the bloodshed. It's 252 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:21.879 all kind of tragic when you think about it. A 253 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:25.480 farm family innocently going about their business until the war 254 00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:28.840 ended up at their front door. And that's the end 255 00:15:28.840 --> 00:15:31.559 of that story. But you know, during the Civil War 256 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:35.879 where I live, when the Union forces came through here, 257 00:15:36.519 --> 00:15:42.799 they burned in everything, courthouses, churches. You can look at 258 00:15:42.799 --> 00:15:47.000 the historical markers on almost every courthouse in every county 259 00:15:47.320 --> 00:15:50.559 in at least north of Mississippi, I'm guessing North Alabama 260 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:54.440 and Georgia. It'll say that This courthouse was burned down 261 00:15:54.519 --> 00:15:58.519 during the Civil War and rebuilt in eighteen eighty nine 262 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:04.159 or eighteen seventy six during the Reconstruction period. But none 263 00:16:04.200 --> 00:16:07.559 of it was pleasant for people in the Southern States. 264 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:12.200 And nothing about the war was easy. It wasn't just hard, 265 00:16:12.279 --> 00:16:15.159 it was. It was much harder on the soldiers, but 266 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:19.000 nothing was easy for the whole population down here. And 267 00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:21.960 some people may say, well, they deserved it, blah blah blah. 268 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:24.639 I'm not saying whether they deserved it or not. I'm 269 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:27.440 just saying that's a fact. It just wasn't easy living 270 00:16:27.559 --> 00:16:30.320 for people. And a lot of our customs and a 271 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:34.320 lot of our food and a lot of our language 272 00:16:34.440 --> 00:16:37.639 and the things that the way we live in the 273 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:42.840 Southern States are marked by that era. And I don't know, 274 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:45.679 it just came to mind with this story. I've read 275 00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:49.720 a lot about the Reconstruction era, and from customs to 276 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:53.559 food to in the post slave culture and everything. It's 277 00:16:53.639 --> 00:16:57.120 real interesting stuff. And you kind of find out why 278 00:16:57.159 --> 00:17:00.919 people like I found out why my grandparents ate like 279 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:03.399 they did that. I'll just tell you a little story. 280 00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:07.839 I remember my grandmother and this is probably from the 281 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:12.079 reconstruction area posts Civil war and from living through the 282 00:17:12.119 --> 00:17:16.440 Great Depression. But she would cook a batch of biscuits, 283 00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:20.000 and those biscuits would sit on her stove out in 284 00:17:20.039 --> 00:17:23.519 the open for a week until they were all gone. 285 00:17:23.640 --> 00:17:27.200 Now today, if we cook a dozen biscuits and you 286 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:30.160 eat six, you just throw the rest of them away, 287 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:32.079 or you give the rest to the dogs, or you 288 00:17:32.119 --> 00:17:35.240 throw we throw them out to the chickens. But they 289 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:38.559 came up in an era where you did not waste 290 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:41.119 an ounce of food. You just didn't waste it. You 291 00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:43.759 kept it and you would eat on it all week. 292 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:47.240 And if you threw throwing something out that was edible 293 00:17:47.880 --> 00:17:52.079 was just absolutely unheard of. And my grandparents wound up 294 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:55.799 in real good shape later in their life. But they 295 00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:58.680 were born and raised and came up through the Great 296 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:03.559 Depression by people who were raising families during that time, 297 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:06.720 and that's how they came about those customs, and they 298 00:18:06.759 --> 00:18:08.920 never let go of them. I just think that's so 299 00:18:09.160 --> 00:18:12.400 fascinating to me. I'm running this story kind of long. 300 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:15.920 I'm going off on a tangent like I do sometimes 301 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:19.400 when I get talking. But it's interesting stuff, and I 302 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:22.640 don't take any particular pride in it. I don't take 303 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:26.079 I don't look down on it, even though I'm Southern 304 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:29.200 born and I've lived here all my life. These are 305 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:35.599 just interesting facts about humanity that really consume me. I 306 00:18:35.640 --> 00:18:40.279 love reading about why we do what we do. It's 307 00:18:40.359 --> 00:18:46.200 interesting stuff. Okay, let's go to another story. I moved 308 00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:48.880 to Parker County, Texas two years ago with my wife 309 00:18:48.920 --> 00:18:52.440 and our three dogs. The property that we purchased and 310 00:18:52.599 --> 00:18:56.279 currently live on is five acres and it's located outside 311 00:18:56.279 --> 00:19:01.240 of Springtown. The property is surrounded by others similar sized properties, 312 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:05.319 but there are large wooded sections. The back three acres 313 00:19:05.400 --> 00:19:08.480 is open to the neighbor that borders me to the west, 314 00:19:08.920 --> 00:19:11.319 and they have a thick scrub brush on the back 315 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:14.680 side of their property. The metal barn that was here 316 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:17.000 when we bought the place sits twenty feet from the 317 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:20.440 property line and eighty feet from our back door. Now, 318 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:22.079 I tell you all of this so that you can 319 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:24.920 get a mental image of how everything is positioned on 320 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:28.880 the property. When we first moved in during the summer 321 00:19:28.920 --> 00:19:31.880 of twenty twenty one, we were excited to start some 322 00:19:31.960 --> 00:19:36.039 projects and make our place our own. After picking up 323 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:39.119 one thousand pounds of scrap metal and giving the pasture 324 00:19:39.160 --> 00:19:42.200 a good bush hogging. The back acreage was looking a 325 00:19:42.200 --> 00:19:44.640 lot better than it had when we first moved in. 326 00:19:45.880 --> 00:19:48.440 We made a plan to move my wife's horse from 327 00:19:48.440 --> 00:19:51.920 her grandmother's property to ours once I fixed the fence 328 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:55.960 that ran down the western property line. One June evening, 329 00:19:56.039 --> 00:19:59.440 after it all cooled down, I started making the necessary 330 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:02.680 repair to the fence when I heard something moving around 331 00:20:02.680 --> 00:20:05.799 in the brush fifteen yards in front of me. Now 332 00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:08.480 it sounded like a large animal trying to be quiet 333 00:20:08.880 --> 00:20:13.200 but failing miserably. I wasn't concerned, since this part of 334 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:16.640 Texas has deer and hogs and other wild game, and 335 00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:21.119 that's what could have been making the noises. Thirty minutes 336 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:24.799 into this episode, with on and off breaking of sticks 337 00:20:24.839 --> 00:20:28.960 and crunching leaves, I started to feel uneasy, like something 338 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:32.400 was looking right at me or through me. I'm a 339 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:35.200 big man six foot four and three hundred and twenty 340 00:20:35.240 --> 00:20:38.480 five pounds, and having hunted the woods and swamps of 341 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:42.039 Mississippi all my life, there's not much that has raised 342 00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:44.720 the hair on the back of my neck. But even so, 343 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:49.039 something had my nerves on edge. So I quickly finished 344 00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:50.920 the work and walked back to the house. At a 345 00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:55.119 fast pace. After getting into the house and shaking off 346 00:20:55.160 --> 00:20:58.240 the feeling of being watched, I turned on the baseball 347 00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:02.079 game and I was able to rely. Later on, my 348 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:04.480 wife reminded me that she had to go out of 349 00:21:04.519 --> 00:21:07.240 town for the next few days for work, and she 350 00:21:07.319 --> 00:21:09.319 asked about the fence, and I told her that I 351 00:21:09.319 --> 00:21:12.400 would have it completed, but I didn't mention the incident 352 00:21:12.440 --> 00:21:15.039 that made me nervous. She asked me if I could 353 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:19.200 clean out the barn while she was gone as well. Well. Naturally, 354 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:22.000 I waited until the last day before my wife came 355 00:21:22.039 --> 00:21:25.640 home to start this work. There was no electricity running 356 00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:28.640 to the barn, just a floodlight on a pole pointing 357 00:21:28.680 --> 00:21:32.200 toward the south entrance, so I had to get everything 358 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:35.839 cleaned out during the day while filling my truck bed 359 00:21:35.960 --> 00:21:39.519 up with old water hoses and boxes of bucks and newspapers. 360 00:21:39.559 --> 00:21:42.440 From no telling how long, I worked my way toward 361 00:21:42.519 --> 00:21:46.079 the northwest corner of the barn. That's when I started 362 00:21:46.119 --> 00:21:49.039 to notice a rancid smell. The closer I got to 363 00:21:49.079 --> 00:21:54.680 that corner. After finally getting the wall of boxes cleared out, 364 00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:59.079 I found the source of the smell. There were old 365 00:21:59.160 --> 00:22:02.079 horse blankets covered in gore in what looked to be 366 00:22:02.200 --> 00:22:05.799 an old deer carcass. Well. I thought it was strange, 367 00:22:05.880 --> 00:22:10.079 but stray dogs in codies are opportunistic, and if no 368 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:13.119 one is bothering them, I guessed that they would take 369 00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:16.680 up shelter in the barn. Well. I gagged a few 370 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:18.960 times at the smell, and I managed to get all 371 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:21.279 the terrible smelling horse blankets in the bed of my 372 00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:23.960 truck and on the way to the county dump. And 373 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:26.680 when I got back home that evening, I got cleaned 374 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:28.480 up and I let the dogs out to use the 375 00:22:28.519 --> 00:22:33.200 bathroom and get some exercise. It was about thirty minutes 376 00:22:33.240 --> 00:22:36.720 before dusk, and that uneasy feeling that I had of 377 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:40.400 being watched hit me again. I wasn't the only one 378 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:43.160 that had an immediate feeling of eyes peering at me 379 00:22:43.240 --> 00:22:47.559 from somewhere. All of my dogs were on alert. They 380 00:22:47.559 --> 00:22:51.160 were looking over toward the barn. The biggest of these 381 00:22:51.240 --> 00:22:54.839 dogs is one hundred and twenty pound Great Pyrenees Retriever mix. 382 00:22:55.480 --> 00:22:58.319 He was a real protective dog, but he was frozen 383 00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:03.599 in that spot, rowling, and his hackles were raised. I 384 00:23:03.640 --> 00:23:06.920 gathered myself and got the dogs back inside, and I 385 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:09.640 still couldn't shake the feeling that there was something glaring 386 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:13.599 at me through the windows. The thought crossed my mind 387 00:23:13.640 --> 00:23:15.599 that there might be a big cat in the area, 388 00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:18.119 even though the game warns will tell you that there aren't. 389 00:23:18.519 --> 00:23:21.720 But I hadn't seen any tracks or signs. So after 390 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:25.160 closing all the blinds, I felt a little better. But 391 00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:27.720 that was until about nine thirty when I heard my 392 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:32.799 neighbor's dog raising hell. Against my better judgment, I went 393 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:35.000 to the gun safe and got out my three hundred 394 00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:38.559 blackout AR fifteen, and I racked around in the chamber 395 00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:41.000 and I flipped on the weapon mounted light and I 396 00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:45.160 stepped out the back door. The instant that I pointed 397 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:48.160 the light toward the barn, there was an ear piercing 398 00:23:48.359 --> 00:23:53.039 howl or growl that vibrated in my chest. Now I'm 399 00:23:53.079 --> 00:23:56.200 not a believer in encryptids or that UFO stuff, So 400 00:23:56.279 --> 00:23:59.000 I started walking toward the barn with my muscle trained 401 00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:02.960