1
00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:08,640
Speaker 1: Welcome to this country life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves

2
00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:12,680
Speaker 1: from con hunting to trot lining and just general country living.

3
00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:14,680
Speaker 1: I want you to stay a while as I share

4
00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:19,200
Speaker 1: my experiences and life lessons. This country life is presented

5
00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:23,240
Speaker 1: by Case Knives on Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you

6
00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:28,240
Speaker 1: the best outdoor podcast the airwaves have to offer. All right, friends,

7
00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:31,760
Speaker 1: grab a chair or drop that tailgate. I've got some

8
00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:42,920
Speaker 1: stories to share. Pocket knives, squirrels, and Father's Day. It's

9
00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:45,839
Speaker 1: Father's Day again, and I'm gonna talk about two significant

10
00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:49,320
Speaker 1: events in my life. The big story took place over

11
00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:53,400
Speaker 1: forty days with glimpses of the past. It'll all makes

12
00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:56,080
Speaker 1: sense when we get to it. But first I'm gonna

13
00:00:56,120 --> 00:01:00,640
Speaker 1: tell you this one that has literally taken generations to tell.

14
00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:10,080
Speaker 1: As we celebrate those folks in our lives, both past

15
00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:14,360
Speaker 1: and present, who either biologically or lovingly earned the rank

16
00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:18,560
Speaker 1: and privilege historically afforded fathers, I want to talk to

17
00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,680
Speaker 1: you first about a recent honor bestowed upon my family

18
00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:24,520
Speaker 1: that could not have culminated at a more appropriate time

19
00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,039
Speaker 1: than right now. Now. I've told you all about it before,

20
00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:29,880
Speaker 1: but if you're a new listener, let me do a

21
00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:33,039
Speaker 1: quick summary of how we got here and the story

22
00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:37,600
Speaker 1: I'm fixing to tell this Country Life podcast number two,

23
00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,880
Speaker 1: which aired on April twenty eighth, twenty twenty three, one

24
00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,000
Speaker 1: hundred and eleven podcasts ago I talked about the stuff

25
00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:48,520
Speaker 1: that I told in my pockets, everything from pocket watches

26
00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:52,800
Speaker 1: to pocket knives, not casually but matter of factly mention

27
00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:55,640
Speaker 1: a particular brand of life that's near and dear to

28
00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:59,840
Speaker 1: my family and has been for the last six generations.

29
00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,840
Speaker 1: I had no ulterior motives, just real, organic, off the

30
00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:08,800
Speaker 1: cuff comments. Now that brand of knife was the exclusive

31
00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:12,240
Speaker 1: brand you'll find on any of us at any given time.

32
00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:16,360
Speaker 1: There are families in Deer, the Fords and Chevrolets, John

33
00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:20,480
Speaker 1: Deere and Massive Ferguson tractors, or Duke's mayonnaise, even a

34
00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:24,840
Speaker 1: particular weather man. But in our family the brand of

35
00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:29,280
Speaker 1: knife was and his case, knives of Bradford, Pennsylvania. Me

36
00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:31,960
Speaker 1: mentioning that during the second episode that aired of this

37
00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:36,320
Speaker 1: Weekly Struggle didn't light the fuse on my family's relationship

38
00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,240
Speaker 1: with the good folks at Bradford, had merely fanned the

39
00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:42,080
Speaker 1: flames that have been burning for over one hundred years now.

40
00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:46,399
Speaker 1: Someone and I don't know who it was, but God

41
00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:50,320
Speaker 1: bless them whoever it was, heard that episode and brought

42
00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:54,400
Speaker 1: it to Case's attention. Now, through that slight introduction, we

43
00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:58,359
Speaker 1: fast forward to where we sit now, with the wr

44
00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:02,000
Speaker 1: Case Company being a spot answer of this show, an

45
00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,760
Speaker 1: absolute fairy tale of a story that put me in

46
00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:08,720
Speaker 1: a place where my name is associated with an iconic

47
00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,880
Speaker 1: American company building products by hand every day that are

48
00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:17,760
Speaker 1: used by Americans every day all over this country, doing

49
00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,600
Speaker 1: the task required for putting in an honest day's labor,

50
00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:26,520
Speaker 1: like the three generations before me did. Now, before folks

51
00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:28,720
Speaker 1: start rolling their eyes and say, oh, Brent's doing a

52
00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,360
Speaker 1: commercial for a sponsor, let me stop you right there.

53
00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:34,960
Speaker 1: I have one hundred percent total control over what I

54
00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:37,360
Speaker 1: say on the show. And not only does meat eat

55
00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,680
Speaker 1: or not even make suggestions on the content need of

56
00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:44,440
Speaker 1: this case. In fact, they both prefer I talk less

57
00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:46,800
Speaker 1: about them so people don't get the impression I'm over

58
00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:50,640
Speaker 1: here selling used cars like Junior samples. I get to

59
00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:56,480
Speaker 1: talk about the things I like hockeyknives or one of them.

60
00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:58,440
Speaker 1: So with that said, let me get to the meat

61
00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:02,160
Speaker 1: on this bone. Last week, the Case Company and metiatter

62
00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:07,840
Speaker 1: released a knife that is the Brent Reeves signature. Many traffic,

63
00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,760
Speaker 1: months and months of planning and meetings resulted in a

64
00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:16,760
Speaker 1: deep red bone handled pocket knife that is the same

65
00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:20,440
Speaker 1: color of the first pocket knife I ever remember my

66
00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:28,200
Speaker 1: dad carrying. It means a lot to me and my family,

67
00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:30,839
Speaker 1: and none of it would have been possible had it

68
00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:35,800
Speaker 1: not been for you, You faithful folks who listen every week

69
00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:38,520
Speaker 1: and the ones who take the time to write reviews,

70
00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:42,600
Speaker 1: share the podcast with others and send in the best

71
00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:45,320
Speaker 1: stories that I get to share, and you show up

72
00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:48,000
Speaker 1: at events just to visit and talk about the different

73
00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:52,400
Speaker 1: things that we all love to talk about. I get

74
00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,760
Speaker 1: emotional talking about this object made of metal and bone,

75
00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:59,720
Speaker 1: not because of what it is, but by what it represents.

76
00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:04,320
Speaker 1: It's all of us together, from Cleveland County, Arkansas, and

77
00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:09,440
Speaker 1: McKean County, Pennsylvania, to every home, job, or car where

78
00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:13,800
Speaker 1: you're listening. Now, we're all in this together, and from

79
00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:16,560
Speaker 1: the bottom of my heart, I thank you all, and

80
00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:30,760
Speaker 1: you you are just how this all happened. Father's Day

81
00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:33,119
Speaker 1: a day set aside to honor the dads out there.

82
00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,360
Speaker 1: In my case, it's the guy who, above all else

83
00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:40,000
Speaker 1: taught me how to have fun. A few of those

84
00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:42,559
Speaker 1: times have been shared with y'all here lessons I learned,

85
00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:47,839
Speaker 1: both from observations and from his direct instruction. The following

86
00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:50,479
Speaker 1: is the story I wrote not long after my dad

87
00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:54,279
Speaker 1: passed away. It's a detailed diary of strong remembrances of

88
00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,320
Speaker 1: different days during his stay in the hospital, and those

89
00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:02,359
Speaker 1: days were long and tenure short abbreviated. When does the

90
00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:06,080
Speaker 1: communication between whoever was fortunate enough to be sitting in

91
00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:09,240
Speaker 1: the room with him when he came to mixed in

92
00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:11,960
Speaker 1: between the hospital references as a hunt that comes to

93
00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:16,359
Speaker 1: mind anytime squirrels are mentioned, and it was running through

94
00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:19,520
Speaker 1: my mind as we raced toward what would be his

95
00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:23,680
Speaker 1: final night on earth. It remains a core memory of

96
00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:26,599
Speaker 1: my understanding of the love my father had for me

97
00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:31,320
Speaker 1: and the pride he had in me, both things that

98
00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:36,200
Speaker 1: he was adamant that I know now. He could be

99
00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:39,440
Speaker 1: upset with me, he mad at me, even disappointed, but

100
00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:41,800
Speaker 1: he always made me know how much he loved me,

101
00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:45,640
Speaker 1: something I've tried to emulate with the folks. I love

102
00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,640
Speaker 1: that's not just limited to family, and not just by actions,

103
00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:54,559
Speaker 1: but telling them too, Just like he did. I wrote

104
00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:56,760
Speaker 1: this story on in a few days after the seventh

105
00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:00,640
Speaker 1: of September in twenty eleven, with no intentions of anyone

106
00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:04,760
Speaker 1: outside of me ever reading it, and it skips back

107
00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:07,600
Speaker 1: and forth in time, making perfect sense to me as

108
00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:10,800
Speaker 1: I wrote it. The events freshened my mind and on

109
00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:13,760
Speaker 1: my heart. As the one who saw it all as

110
00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:17,960
Speaker 1: an eyewitness, My hope above all hope is that it'll

111
00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:27,440
Speaker 1: translate here for you. The phone woke me out of

112
00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:29,960
Speaker 1: a sound sleep. I had it in my hand before

113
00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,800
Speaker 1: the second ring was done, and nearly twenty years of

114
00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:37,160
Speaker 1: being a police officer, anytime the phone rings after bedtime,

115
00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:41,160
Speaker 1: it could only mean one thing, something is wrong. And

116
00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:44,320
Speaker 1: the caller ID said it was my aunt Diana, my

117
00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:48,520
Speaker 1: dad's youngest sister. She'd never call this lad unless it

118
00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:52,880
Speaker 1: was an emergency, and by being her, I immediately knew

119
00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:56,600
Speaker 1: it involved my dad. She said, Hey, I'm on the

120
00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:58,760
Speaker 1: way to Pine Bluff. Your dad is in the er.

121
00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:02,120
Speaker 1: He said, had some type of spell, and I think

122
00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:06,480
Speaker 1: they said something about life support coming to full alert.

123
00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:15,680
Speaker 1: I told her we're on the way. It was cold.

124
00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:18,120
Speaker 1: As we made our way through the cane thicket, Buck

125
00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:19,960
Speaker 1: would turn his head to grab a bigger bite of

126
00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,600
Speaker 1: switch cane leaves, all the while holding a steady course

127
00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:28,560
Speaker 1: Dad had set for him. As we closed in on peanuts, barking, Dad,

128
00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,640
Speaker 1: if this twenty two was to start shooting all by itself,

129
00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:33,960
Speaker 1: would you want me to just chunk it over yonder?

130
00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:37,720
Speaker 1: An acceptable, silly question for an eight year old boy

131
00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:41,640
Speaker 1: to ask, No, son, I just pointed out there until

132
00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:44,280
Speaker 1: he ran out of shells. But I don't expect it

133
00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:48,000
Speaker 1: to do that, though me neither. I was just asking,

134
00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:51,920
Speaker 1: all right, let's kill this squirrel. Now. When we get

135
00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,840
Speaker 1: up here, you slide off, run around the other side

136
00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:57,360
Speaker 1: of that tree, away from me and Buck, and I'll

137
00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:01,000
Speaker 1: wait for Jerry over here. When he gets here, all

138
00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:03,280
Speaker 1: the commotion will put that squirrel on your side of

139
00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:06,760
Speaker 1: the tree and you can kill him. Yes, Sir. I

140
00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:09,040
Speaker 1: buried my head in the middle of his back. I

141
00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:11,560
Speaker 1: squeezed my eyes shut, and I held on as tight

142
00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:14,120
Speaker 1: as I could to his waist. As we entered the

143
00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:18,120
Speaker 1: green brier portion of that thicket, the sharp thorns grabbed

144
00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,200
Speaker 1: the toe of my boots as I pinched him as

145
00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:23,720
Speaker 1: far as I could behind Dad's legs to keep the

146
00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,200
Speaker 1: briers and vines from pulling me off the back of

147
00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:29,840
Speaker 1: that saddle. I knew we'd broken free from the thicket

148
00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:32,520
Speaker 1: when the scratching sound of the brier scraping across that

149
00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:38,560
Speaker 1: leather gun scabbard subsided and peanuts bark grew louder. I

150
00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:41,360
Speaker 1: peecked around the right shoulder of the strongest man in

151
00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:44,559
Speaker 1: the world, and I saw peanuts bobtail wagging into blurs.

152
00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,960
Speaker 1: He barked and circled a huge oak tree, searching for

153
00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:51,520
Speaker 1: the squirrel that he knew was there. I pulled my

154
00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:53,920
Speaker 1: hands out of Dad's warm coat pockets and slid like

155
00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:56,480
Speaker 1: a snake off the back of that huge buckskin horse.

156
00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:59,240
Speaker 1: I no sooner hit the ground one. Dad handed me

157
00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:02,480
Speaker 1: the twenty two, and I ran past Peanut and the tree,

158
00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:05,280
Speaker 1: picking out a spot on the opposite side where I

159
00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:07,720
Speaker 1: could see most of the tree, and waited for that

160
00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:15,080
Speaker 1: squirrel to move. Your father has had a stroke. Only

161
00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:18,600
Speaker 1: time will tell how significant the damage will be. Now

162
00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:21,760
Speaker 1: complicating all of this is our inability to give him

163
00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:27,040
Speaker 1: the medication that thends his blood regulates his heartbeat. He's stable,

164
00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:29,959
Speaker 1: but the next twenty four hours will play a critical

165
00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:34,360
Speaker 1: role in the rest of his life and its quality.

166
00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:38,400
Speaker 1: I looked at my wife with a blank expression as

167
00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:40,719
Speaker 1: we stood in the hallway of the hospital after our

168
00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:44,440
Speaker 1: chance meeting with the neurosurgeon that had only hours before

169
00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:50,520
Speaker 1: operated on the strongest man in the world. Thank you, doctor,

170
00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:53,319
Speaker 1: was all I could muster. I'm not sure if Alexis

171
00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:56,479
Speaker 1: said anything to him or not. I recall her squeezing

172
00:10:56,559 --> 00:10:58,800
Speaker 1: my hand as we walked back toward the waiting room,

173
00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:02,960
Speaker 1: where nearly every one within my immediate family, close friends

174
00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:05,360
Speaker 1: and distant family, and some folks I'd never seen in

175
00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:10,280
Speaker 1: my life waited and supported one another. We prayed together,

176
00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:13,360
Speaker 1: we laughed together, we cried together, but mostly we just

177
00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:17,600
Speaker 1: sat around and loved my dad in each other, and

178
00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:25,360
Speaker 1: we waited. Every day, work, go to the hospital, go home, work,

179
00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:30,000
Speaker 1: go to the hospital, go home. Wait and wait and

180
00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:38,600
Speaker 1: wait and remember. My eyes strained to see where I

181
00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:41,560
Speaker 1: couldn't and watch for the tiniest movement that would give

182
00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:46,120
Speaker 1: my quorus location away. Look in the forks, watch up

183
00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:49,520
Speaker 1: the tree and out. Look for his ear it looked

184
00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:52,360
Speaker 1: like a little triangle sticking up. Or looked for his

185
00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:56,720
Speaker 1: tail to switch. You'll you'll find him. I repeated Dad's

186
00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:59,640
Speaker 1: instructions over and over in my mind as I followed

187
00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:03,800
Speaker 1: to the letter what he'd been teaching me, Peanut and

188
00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:06,959
Speaker 1: barking his plea for me to find him, and Jerry

189
00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:08,920
Speaker 1: rode up on his horse and around to my side

190
00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:12,200
Speaker 1: of the tree scrambled a gray squirrel, just like my

191
00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:24,559
Speaker 1: dad said he would. Two weeks after he went in

192
00:12:24,559 --> 00:12:27,559
Speaker 1: to the hospital, I saw his eyes blink and then

193
00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:30,360
Speaker 1: he looked at me with the prettiest blue eyes I'd

194
00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:37,040
Speaker 1: ever seen. Hi, Dad, I've been missing you. He focused

195
00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:40,160
Speaker 1: on my tired, smiling face and he winked at me.

196
00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:44,520
Speaker 1: I love you, son, he whispered, I love you to Paul.

197
00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:48,080
Speaker 1: He squeezed my hand and that had been holding his

198
00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:51,040
Speaker 1: for the last thirty minutes or so, and I squeezed back.

199
00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:55,400
Speaker 1: I talked to him for a good while. He watched

200
00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:58,760
Speaker 1: me as I talked to him, listening intently as I spoke.

201
00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:03,480
Speaker 1: In the case, he'd have an expression of understanding and calm,

202
00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:09,640
Speaker 1: reassuring me that he knew what I was saying. Of

203
00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:13,480
Speaker 1: the details of that conversation will remain between Dad, me

204
00:13:13,559 --> 00:13:16,280
Speaker 1: and the Good Lord who blessed me with one of

205
00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:19,560
Speaker 1: the few cognitive windows during that forty days we spent

206
00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:24,120
Speaker 1: at the hospital to communicate with my dad, just him

207
00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:27,000
Speaker 1: and me. But the gist of it was I was

208
00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:29,560
Speaker 1: gonna try hard to take care of his grandkids and

209
00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:32,680
Speaker 1: his daughter in law, and I could tell he was tired.

210
00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:35,400
Speaker 1: So when we finished talking, I told him I loved him,

211
00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,000
Speaker 1: and he squeezed my hand. He winked at me again,

212
00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:45,360
Speaker 1: and he drifted off to sleep. I seem Dad, I

213
00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:47,719
Speaker 1: see him the squirrel of inch his way toward a

214
00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:50,160
Speaker 1: big fork on my side of the tree. Each time

215
00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:52,320
Speaker 1: I settled a crosshair of the scope on his head

216
00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:54,520
Speaker 1: and prepared a fire, he'd inch out of my sights

217
00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:57,800
Speaker 1: and short spurts a few inches at a time. I

218
00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:00,800
Speaker 1: could see the hollow limb above the fork where I

219
00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:03,880
Speaker 1: feared he was going, and I raised my aim just

220
00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:07,760
Speaker 1: below where I thought he'd enter that hole. Dogs barked,

221
00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:10,840
Speaker 1: and Jerry and Dad both shook small saplings from where

222
00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:13,440
Speaker 1: they sat on their horses, keeping the noise of the

223
00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:15,640
Speaker 1: limbs and the leaves on the opposite side of the

224
00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:19,280
Speaker 1: tree from me, and the squirrel held my aim above

225
00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:21,680
Speaker 1: That squirrel trained on the spot where I hoped he'd

226
00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:31,120
Speaker 1: stop before we crawled into his waiting sanctuary. We just

227
00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:37,720
Speaker 1: finished supper when my phone rang with my aunt Diane again. Hello, Hey,

228
00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:42,680
Speaker 1: it's breathing. Isn't very good? Doctor says y'all better come on,

229
00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:48,160
Speaker 1: we're on the way. I said it calmly. The weather

230
00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:51,800
Speaker 1: had been hot and windy and humid over the past

231
00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:56,600
Speaker 1: month and a half. This night it was unseasonably cool,

232
00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:00,240
Speaker 1: wind wasn't blowing, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Yeah,

233
00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:04,520
Speaker 1: the stars were everywhere. When we walked outside. I called

234
00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,160
Speaker 1: my brother Tim as we were getting in the car.

235
00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:10,320
Speaker 1: I asked him you headed to the hospital. He said yes.

236
00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:13,760
Speaker 1: I said, was the wind blowing when you walked outside?

237
00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:18,240
Speaker 1: The question that he kind of caught him off guard.

238
00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:21,760
Speaker 1: He said, do what I said, the wind? Was it

239
00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:25,800
Speaker 1: blowing when you walked out to leave? He said, I

240
00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:29,400
Speaker 1: didn't notice why. I said, it wasn't blowing at my house.

241
00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:33,120
Speaker 1: It's cool tonight, the first night since dad's been in

242
00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:36,880
Speaker 1: the hospital. It's been worth a deurn to run his dogs.

243
00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:41,680
Speaker 1: You can hear a hound bark from Myles tonight. Dad's

244
00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:46,920
Speaker 1: going hunting, brother. And for a second it was only silence,

245
00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:51,200
Speaker 1: and then Tim said, well, I'll be he sure is

246
00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:56,880
Speaker 1: drive safe, don't be in a hurry. I'll see you there,

247
00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:04,680
Speaker 1: and I love you just a little more, just a

248
00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:07,000
Speaker 1: little more, I remember saying to myself as I caught

249
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,400
Speaker 1: a glimpse of the squirrel as he entered the side

250
00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:12,760
Speaker 1: picture of the bottom of my scope. I had a

251
00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:15,360
Speaker 1: rock solid rest on a dogwood limb that was the

252
00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:18,400
Speaker 1: perfect height for the shot I was fixing to take

253
00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:21,920
Speaker 1: just a little more. And with that thought, the squirrel

254
00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:25,080
Speaker 1: sprinted the last two feet before I could even realize it,

255
00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:28,880
Speaker 1: and he disappeared into that home. I raised up from

256
00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:31,040
Speaker 1: that rifle and looked at Dad and Jerry, who were

257
00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,480
Speaker 1: laughing now at the expression on my face as I

258
00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:36,560
Speaker 1: looked back and forth from my hole in the tree

259
00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:39,200
Speaker 1: to where they sat watching me. Now, this is not

260
00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:41,960
Speaker 1: how I'd had all this worked out in my mind.

261
00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:44,840
Speaker 1: He was supposed to stop just before he went in

262
00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:47,040
Speaker 1: that hole, and I'd squeezed the trigger and getting him

263
00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:50,280
Speaker 1: with one shot and making the strongest man in the

264
00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:58,000
Speaker 1: world proud of me. I imagine doing it all over again.

265
00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:00,440
Speaker 1: As I heard Dad tell me to get back on

266
00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:03,800
Speaker 1: the horse, I relived watching that squirrel out of the

267
00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:06,320
Speaker 1: corner of my eyes. He ent slowly toward where I

268
00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:09,400
Speaker 1: had that rival aimed below the hole in that tree.

269
00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:12,080
Speaker 1: I braced the rifle back on that dog wood limb.

270
00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:15,400
Speaker 1: I oriented the barrel toward that hole, placed my cheek

271
00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:17,520
Speaker 1: on the stock, and took aim. As I done just

272
00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:21,679
Speaker 1: prior to the squirrel making his escape. I settled the

273
00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:25,000
Speaker 1: crossairs on the imaginary squirrel, wishing I had had another

274
00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:29,879
Speaker 1: chance at him. When it was replaced by a real one,

275
00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:32,360
Speaker 1: I didn't think about it. I pushed his safety off.

276
00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:34,920
Speaker 1: I pulled the trigger and sent that squirrel toward the

277
00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:38,240
Speaker 1: ground with a head shot, and Peanut caught him in

278
00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:42,040
Speaker 1: mid air. Before I had time to realize that, another

279
00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:44,119
Speaker 1: squirrel came out of that hole and stopped in the

280
00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:47,760
Speaker 1: same spot. He met the same fate, except this one

281
00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:51,440
Speaker 1: landed on the ground with a thud. I picked him up.

282
00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:53,960
Speaker 1: I retrieved one Peanut had caught, and I carried him

283
00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:56,520
Speaker 1: both to my dad, who was grinning bigger than Jerry

284
00:17:57,119 --> 00:18:00,879
Speaker 1: or me. We tied him on the sack, and in

285
00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:03,720
Speaker 1: one pull he swung me up on the back of

286
00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:06,960
Speaker 1: his saddle. He called Peanut and we headed off to

287
00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:11,440
Speaker 1: find another one. That was good. Brent, I thought you'd

288
00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:13,919
Speaker 1: done let him get away, and then you got to

289
00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:16,560
Speaker 1: both of them, riding the nogging. I'm proud of you, son.

290
00:18:22,119 --> 00:18:24,840
Speaker 1: I was less than five minutes from the hospital, driving

291
00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:27,399
Speaker 1: faster than I should have been when Tim called me.

292
00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:30,320
Speaker 1: Tim lived a lot closer and would have been easily

293
00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:33,639
Speaker 1: there a few minutes before us. I knew what he

294
00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:40,040
Speaker 1: had to say even before I answered Hello. He said,

295
00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:45,919
Speaker 1: he's gone hunting. Dad's gone hunting. I remember thinking it

296
00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:48,760
Speaker 1: was a good night for cold hunting. I bet you

297
00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:55,080
Speaker 1: could have heard a hound bark for miles. We buried

298
00:18:55,119 --> 00:18:57,920
Speaker 1: my father in the family cemetery that bears our name

299
00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:01,960
Speaker 1: in Cleveland County, Arkansas, along side my great grandfather and

300
00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:06,800
Speaker 1: my grandfather. It's been fourteen fathers days without him, well

301
00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:10,679
Speaker 1: without his physical presence. He's still here. I see him

302
00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:13,520
Speaker 1: in my children. I see him and my brother. I

303
00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:16,320
Speaker 1: see him and me sometimes, and sometimes he catches me

304
00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:20,960
Speaker 1: a little by surprise when I do. Several months ago,

305
00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:23,040
Speaker 1: I got word from friends of mine that they were

306
00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:27,600
Speaker 1: going to be first time fathers. During those conversations, I

307
00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:30,640
Speaker 1: told them both that only when they held their babies

308
00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:35,240
Speaker 1: would they know how much their dads love them. I

309
00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:38,080
Speaker 1: talk to them both after each blessed event, and they

310
00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:44,560
Speaker 1: wholeheartedly agree that's the way it goes. That's the natural

311
00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:47,080
Speaker 1: order of things. The events of our existence that make

312
00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:51,680
Speaker 1: worthwhile our being where we are, they're all around us

313
00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:55,080
Speaker 1: for us to see, to hear, and participate in until

314
00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:58,080
Speaker 1: they aren't. We just have to look up from what

315
00:19:58,119 --> 00:20:03,359
Speaker 1: we're doing to see it. Some times, this podcast was

316
00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:06,560
Speaker 1: supposed to be delivered to Riva three days sooner than

317
00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:10,000
Speaker 1: it was because of a baseball game, a game that

318
00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:12,560
Speaker 1: our oldest daughter Amy and our son in law Colin

319
00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:15,760
Speaker 1: got tickets for all of us to go, and after

320
00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:18,679
Speaker 1: the game, my six year old grandson Trip wanted to

321
00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:21,760
Speaker 1: spend the night with us. So I kicked a self

322
00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:24,240
Speaker 1: imposed deadline to the curb and took off a day

323
00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,359
Speaker 1: from the computer to go to the ball game, to

324
00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:30,760
Speaker 1: bring my grandson home, and set up to midnight watching

325
00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:34,080
Speaker 1: Spider Man and answered an endless belt fed machine gun

326
00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:38,760
Speaker 1: of questions, most of which I could answer. I missed

327
00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:40,880
Speaker 1: a lot of those from his mama because I let

328
00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:44,480
Speaker 1: other things get in my way. A mistake got vowed

329
00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:47,960
Speaker 1: I wouldn't make twice. Just a little time. That's all

330
00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:52,680
Speaker 1: it takes, is just a little time. Paul, Why is

331
00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:55,359
Speaker 1: whaling bark so loud? When are they gonna fix the

332
00:20:55,359 --> 00:20:58,440
Speaker 1: hole in that road? Why is giraffe spelled with a g?

333
00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:02,800
Speaker 1: It ain't goud raft? All great questions coming from the

334
00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:08,760
Speaker 1: mind that looks to us for direction, safety, honesty, and love.

335
00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:13,240
Speaker 1: It's really just a conversation. It's a back and forth

336
00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:17,320
Speaker 1: search for interaction between generations, and it's okay for us

337
00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:21,119
Speaker 1: to say I don't know the most important part is

338
00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:23,640
Speaker 1: just being there for them to hear you say it.

339
00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:30,280
Speaker 1: Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there who,

340
00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:34,600
Speaker 1: whether by blood or choice, are answering questions, but mainly

341
00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:41,600
Speaker 1: just for standing still long enough to hear them. Bear Greece,

342
00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,840
Speaker 1: render this country life. And now the Backwoods University is

343
00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,359
Speaker 1: dropping on this feed. There's something for everyone, and we

344
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:52,600
Speaker 1: sure appreciate all this. Until next week. This is Brent

345
00:21:52,680 --> 00:22:02,520
Speaker 1: Reeves signing off. Y'all be careful, don