WEBVTT - Ep. 472: This Country Life - Lessons From "Where the Red Fern Grows" 0:00:05.080 --> 0:00:08.719 Welcome to This Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves 0:00:09.200 --> 0:00:12.600 from coon hunting to trotlining and just in general country living. 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:14.400 I want you to stay a while as I share 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:19.040 my experiences in life lessons. This Country Life is presented 0:00:19.079 --> 0:00:23.280 by Case Knives from the Store More Studio on Meat 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:27.240 Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you the best outdoor podcast the 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:31.319 airways have to offer. All right, friends, grab a chair 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:34.640 or drop that tailgate. I've got some stories to share. 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:44.040 Lessons from where the red Fern grows. Well, this was 0:00:44.080 --> 0:00:46.680 going to be a little different this week. I'm talking 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:49.560 about a book. A book that I've read I can't 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:52.680 tell you how many times, but I was reminded of 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:55.160 it the other day and I haven't been able to 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:58.200 quit thinking about it since. Join me at the fire. 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:09.839 I'm going to tell you all about it chapter two, 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:15.240 paragraph too. I was ten years old when I first 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:20.160 became infected with this terrible disease. I'm sure no boy 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:23.399 in the world had it worse than I did. It's 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:25.720 not easy for a young boy to want a dog 0:01:25.800 --> 0:01:28.320 and not be able to have one. It starts gnawing 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:31.400 at his heart and gets all mixed up in his dreams. 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:37.840 It gets worse and worse until finally it becomes unbearable. 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:43.440 Sound familiar? Well, that passage is from my all time 0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:47.520 favorite book of Where the Red Fern Grows. And I 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:50.480 was a grown man with grandkids when I found out 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:53.840 it was classified as a children's book. A children's book? 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:58.880 Are you kidding me? I read that book in elementary school, 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:01.760 and I don't think it was part of the curriculum. 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:03.960 It was a book I got out of the library 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:07.440 after seeing the movie on TV for the first time 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:12.320 nineteen seventy seven. I was the same age when I 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:15.560 saw it as the character Billy Coleman in the movie. 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:19.200 Now why am I talking about this book today? I 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:21.480 tell you why. A week or so ago, I was 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:24.240 sitting on the couch one Sunday morning when my oldest 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:28.960 daughter Amy sent me a text, Dad, do you think 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:31.440 Trip is old enough for us to read Where the 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:35.200 Red Fern Grows? To him? Well, Trip is my grandson 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:38.600 and he's seven. In case y'all are wondering, I have 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:40.760 to admit, I asked her if he was five or six, 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:45.200 and she laughed and said, Dad, he's seven. No surprise there. 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:47.080 I still think of her as being five of her 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:51.359 own self anyway. Knowing what I know now, I said no, 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:55.519 it was written for kids nine and older. I went 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:57.400 on to say that I want him to have a 0:02:57.400 --> 0:03:01.359 better understanding of what coon hunting is before you read 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:04.360 it to it. Now, I surmise that some of that 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:07.480 is probably me wanting to take him with me when 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:10.840 I go hunting, and my lamenting for the opportunity to 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:13.840 read it to him myself, rather than give them my 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:17.600 blessings to read it to him in my stead. Reading 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:20.760 that book to my youngest has been more or lesser tradition, 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:24.440 one that stopped with Bailey three years ago when she 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:28.360 was ten and lost interest after a few chapters. No 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:32.240 worries though the subject matter isn't for everyone, and while 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:34.240 I could sit and read it now with the great 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:37.720 anticipation of turning the next page, when I know almost 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:41.560 word for word what's on there, it just didn't appeal 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:46.280 to her. So I gave it up silently, and when 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:49.280 she didn't ask why we weren't reading it, I knew 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:52.200 I'd made the right decision, as painful as it was 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:57.160 for me. During mine and Amy's conversation about my favorite 0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:01.240 quote unquote children's book, I told her it was the 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:05.480 second greatest book ever written, And just like the actual 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:08.560 greatest book ever written, there's not a quote or a 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:12.800 lesson from any passage that applies any more to children 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:17.320 than it does for adults. My son in law, Colin said, 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:19.080 the first time his mother read it to him, he 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:22.120 was nine or ten, and when he commenced a squalling, 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:25.360 he didn't stop until he went smooth the sleep sitting 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:30.400 in her lap. He also less has already also added 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:33.040 that his grandmother had passed away not too long before 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:35.720 he read it, so that may have played a role 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:38.640 in how he perceived it and how upset he got. 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:42.479 But from that paragraph I read to you when this 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:46.359 struggle started, it described a boy's longing for something that 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:51.719 seemed unattainable. A pair of redbone puppies cost twenty five 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:56.480 dollars each. Now Billy learned that from finding an outdoor 0:04:56.600 --> 0:05:01.520 magazine some fishermen had left behind. In the depression era 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:05.520 of Oklahoma Ozarks, where this story is set, the average 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:09.839 income was less than three hundred dollars a year. Fifty 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:13.359 dollars was two months salary, and it took two years 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:18.680 of him saving to get enough money that magazine sent 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:22.960 him on his journey of working toward the goal of 0:05:23.040 --> 0:05:30.960 getting his coonhounds. Wilson Rawls's fictional story started me on mine. 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:37.280 I learned that lesson myself not long after seeing the movie. Irregardless, 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:40.920 if Billy Coleman could sell fur to get his hounds 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:44.720 save up his money, so could Brent. What it took 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:48.719 him two years to do, I accomplished in one winter. However, 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:51.599 I didn't just run out and set some traps and 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:54.400 wait for the money to come rolling in. And I 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:58.440 had to buy some traps first, traps of my own, 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:02.400 not from my older brother Tim's cash. Being newlywed, he 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:05.560 was trapping to supplement his own income and didn't have 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:08.120 the luxury of living at home with Mama cooking his 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:12.680 meals like I did. Nope, I was gonna earn money trapping. 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:16.560 I was gonna have to invest my own funds. A 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:19.440 dozen one and a half single spring victory traps would 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:24.000 cost around twenty dollars in nineteen seventy seven. It takes 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:27.240 a lot of farm chores to make twenty dollars. When 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:31.480 most of my wages were covered in the form of groceries, 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:35.960 my papoff slide was the outlier in this equation, even 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:40.960 though he wasn't a hunter himself or cared much for dogs. However, 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:46.080 he was an excellent grandfather, and as I've stated here before, 0:06:46.120 --> 0:06:49.240 he was the sole benefactor of my as he called it, 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:53.359 walking around money. I worked on the farm for him, 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:58.840 and I got a dozen traps with Tim's toot lich. 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:02.440 I started laying still totally on my own. I did 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:05.120 my own skinning. The only thing he helped me with 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:08.640 was taking me to the fur bire money in hand, 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:12.600 I waited for some puppies to come up for sale. 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:16.160 Now Billy Coleman was writing letters back and forth with 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:19.920 some folks in Kentucky that were selling redbone puppies. I 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:22.520 was waiting on mister Lloyd Corker down at the Corker's 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:25.880 feed Story in Warren, Arkansas, to tell my dad when 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:29.680 he had a new litter tree in Walkers. I never 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:33.400 knew why Wilson Rawls, the author of that story, had 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:36.400 Billy longing for a redbone hounds, when the dog from 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:40.480 his childhood that helped inspire the whole story was a 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:45.280 bluetick named Rowdy, a real dog that he would hunt 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:48.120 the river bottoms with at night and read and tell 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:53.080 stories to during the day. But the first lesson gleaned 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:57.000 by me from mister Raws's fictional story was that, like Billy, 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:01.040 I had to labor to put myself in position to 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:04.520 be able to afford a dog. I did that, and 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:08.080 one day my dad told me to get my money 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:10.840 and get in the truck. We were going to the 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:14.920 feed store, a trip to town and a small loan 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:17.440 from Dad to make up the difference. And I walked 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:20.560 out of that feed store grinning like a mule eating sawbriers, 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:23.600 told them a seventy five dollar Restroe Tree and walker 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:27.680 puppy in my arms like it was a baby. What 0:08:27.800 --> 0:08:29.960 I had watched in the span of a ninety seven 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:32.920 minute movie was going to take a lot longer in 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:36.800 real life, And I had no idea how hard it 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:40.760 was going to be. The book and the movie describing 0:08:41.040 --> 0:08:44.000 and demonstrate the rigors of training a pair of hunting dogs, 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:47.240 getting a tree dog started as a bigger test than 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:51.080 it seems. If you've never trained a hound, having too 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:54.280 to train does more than double the work. I'd say 0:08:54.000 --> 0:08:58.680 it triples it at least as individual. As you're dealing 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:02.160 with two dogs, you put them together as juveniles, and 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:05.240 they create a whole other persona that you won't find 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:09.840 when they're separate. It takes a patient and talented trainer 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:13.559 to handle two it once, and most times they're looking 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:17.080 for the one that's quickst to show the promise. Once 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:20.240 that's determined, the slower one to develop. Now he going 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:23.120 to find another home, at least that's the way it 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:27.360 usually goes these days. Then doing that, you have to 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:31.040 spend time with that dog, and through a video montage 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:34.760 of growth trials and tribulations you can see that carried 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:37.720 out in the movie and read about it in the book. 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:42.240 I saw the movie first and then I read the book. 0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:45.640 You'd think that by doing it in that order, the 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:47.960 real that played in my head as I read along 0:09:48.000 --> 0:09:50.600 would show the people from the movie is each character. 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:54.560 But for me, that's not how it worked, not for 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:57.760 this one, And I really don't know why that is. 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:01.880 Maybe it's because ident find more closely with the task 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:04.920 at hand and the end goal of the struggle Billy 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:08.280 was going through more so than than the people within 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:11.960 the story. I knew what it was like to experience 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:14.400 the want of a hunting dog as a child because 0:10:14.480 --> 0:10:17.440 I was I was, I was one longing for the 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:20.840 for the same thing Wilson rawl so accurately described in 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:24.520 the book. While I was reading it, I guess to 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:27.600 me there was no Billy in that story. There was 0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:32.440 there was on living me. Even to this day, I 0:10:32.520 --> 0:10:35.880 find myself thinking back to those days when that book 0:10:35.960 --> 0:10:38.720 is mentioned or something triggers aroundom memory. I've got a 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:41.600 young hound named Jesse that I'm sure some of you 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:46.520 are wondering about. Well, she's finally getting the attention she deserves, 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:48.480 and I'll give an update on her a little later 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:52.600 this summer. But that story that that story details the 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:56.000 struggle involved in training a dog and is a premium 0:10:56.080 --> 0:11:06.560 metaphor for any hard fault, goal or task. Patience when 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:09.880 dealing with a young dog is paramount. To give them 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:12.720 the benefit of the doubt. There will be times when 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:17.359 I think this clown just ain't getting it. But maybe 0:11:17.559 --> 0:11:21.000 it ain't them. Maybe I'm not communicating it well enough 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:25.600 for them to understand. My father, Buddy Reeves, was a 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:29.400 dog man. He had a well deserved reputation for some 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:32.839 of the best tree dogs around and had the best 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:36.480 a mountain cur named Peanut. I've told you about it before, 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:39.439 but I was sitting beside him on the front porch 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:43.199 one afternoon while the last mountain curR he owned, Buck 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:46.720 was stretched out sonning in the front yard taking a nap. 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:50.040 The old Buck was a jam up tree dog and 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:53.520 had mannerism similar to Peanut, even though they were not 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:57.199 of the same lineage. We had a company that had 0:11:57.200 --> 0:12:00.200 stopped to visit after seeing us on the porch. We 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:02.720 were wiling away the afternoon in the cool of the 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:06.560 approaching fall, enjoying each other's company in this sudden change 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:11.720 in temperature. The conversation was naturally about dogs, and the 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:14.800 man asked Dad how he always wound up with puppies 0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:20.040 that made good squirrel dogs. His immediate answer was, I 0:12:20.040 --> 0:12:22.360 can just about tell you which puppy and the litter 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:26.120 is gonna make before they get their eyes open. That 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:29.640 man laughed at him and said, well tell me so, 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:33.560 I'll know. Now, I'll tell you. I was wondering my 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:36.200 own self because this was going to be as big 0:12:36.200 --> 0:12:38.400 of a newsflash to me as it was the man 0:12:38.400 --> 0:12:42.439 who stopped by. Now, my Dad never broke his gaze 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:45.320 from Buck, who was laying like a in a coma 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:48.880 like state of relaxation. His breathing so measured, I had 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:50.800 to watch his belly close to make sure he was 0:12:50.840 --> 0:12:54.600 still doing it. And then Dad said, with the most 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:58.240 obvious answer that was so simple profound, all in the 0:12:58.320 --> 0:13:03.280 same sentence. It's answer to the question all prospective hunting 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:07.280 dog owners want to knows contained in a five word statement, 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:16.040 fact the one that gets hunted. My father was a 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:20.000 Tier one master of quick wit and sarcasm, but he 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:25.240 wasn't being either when he said that the pupp that 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:29.040 gets the chance to bond, learns how to communicate and 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:32.240 develops trust with his human, when all things are equal, 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:35.720 will have a distinct advantage over those with limited opportunities. 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:39.560 I've always thought, and have told countless people, that if 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:42.200 I have a dog of any kind, that I want 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:45.719 to perform a task for me, and the dog just 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:48.360 can't seem to understand what I want him to do. 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:53.040 Maybe it ain't the dog. Maybe I'm not telling him 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:55.120 what I want him to do in a way he 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:59.400 can understand. For the last fifteen thousand years, it has 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:02.480 been in and canines to do what we wanted to do, 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:05.920 and they want to please us. We just have to 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:10.920 be able to properly tell them where the red fern 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:13.760 grows and my Dad's front porch are great examples of 0:14:13.880 --> 0:14:17.679 recognizing the limitations may have to do more with us 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:22.480 than the dog. Priceless lessons we can apply not only 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:25.600 to dogs, but to everyone we come in contact with. 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:28.880 Billy made a deal with his hounds that if they 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:31.120 treat a coon, that he do the rest, no matter what. 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:34.680 And in the book they treat one in a huge 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:38.960 sycamore tree, and Billy, true to his word, gnawed on 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:42.480 that tree with his chop axe for two days, ultimately 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:46.520 to exhaustion, before a sudden gust of wind finished the 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:51.440 job for him. Loyalty was the lesson, and blistered hands 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:56.040 and aching back, hunger and despair were the price paid 0:14:56.080 --> 0:15:00.760 to learn it. It was also very odd, is that loyalty. 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:03.520 It was a two way street. His hounds were recognized 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:06.160 that he was holding up his end of the bargain. 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:09.560 They stayed with him while he worked on the seemingly 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:12.720 impossible task of getting that coon out of that tree. 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:19.240 A reward for Billy from them and the culmination of effort. Now, 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:21.840 on a personal note, I'd have patted old well and 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:24.400 on the head, telling him good boy, and we'd have 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:26.360 taken off from there to go for tree another one. 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:30.200 But that's just me. It'd be hard to tell the 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:32.720 story without pointing out, at least to me, that the 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:38.120 lessons within this book, in this movie are all rooted 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:43.000 in love. It seemingly falls from the pages all over 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:47.600 the floor if you hold the book spine up. Love 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:50.240 is what that whole thing is about, and drives every 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:53.760 facet of the story from the first page to the last. 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:57.720 From the time Billy picks those puppies up from the station, 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:02.320 He'd already loved them, just the idea of having them 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:07.080 was overwhelming. I'm going to read to you now another passage. 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:10.520 This one is from chapter five. It is the day 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:14.000 Billy picks up his puppies from the train station, and 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:18.720 the moment in my mind that represents the closest thing 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:23.640 to the overwhelming feeling of unbounded love to having children 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:31.160 that a child can experience. On arriving at the depot, 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:34.800 my nerve failed me. I was afraid to go in. 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:38.320 I didn't know what I was scared of that I 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:42.440 was scared. Before going around to the front, I picked 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:45.960 in a window. The station master was in his office 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:48.840 looking at some papers. He was wearing a fun little 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:52.080 cap that had no top in it. He looked friendly enough, 0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:55.080 but I still couldn't muster up enough courage to go in. 0:16:56.080 --> 0:16:57.720 I cought my ear to see if I could hear 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:01.800 puppies crying, but I couldn't hear nothing. Bird was chirping. 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:05.119 It was a yellow canary in a cage. The station 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:08.359 master walked over and gave it some water, and I thought, 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:12.080 anyone that is kind of birds surely wouldn't be meaning 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:15.480 to a boy. With my courage built up, I walked 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:18.240 around to the front. He eased myself past the office. 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:22.520 He glanced at me and turned back to his papers. 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:27.720 I walked clear around the depot and again walked slowly 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.880 past the office. Glancing from the corner of my eye 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:34.879 saw the station master looking at me and smiling. He 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:37.040 opened the door and came out on the platform. I 0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:42.480 stopped and leaned against the building, yawning and stretching his arms. 0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:46.080 He said, it sure is hot today, doesn't look like 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:49.760 it's ever going to rain. I looked up at the 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:52.399 sky and said, yes, sir, it is hot, and we 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:55.200 sure could do with the good rain. We need one 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:59.480 bad up where I come from? He asked me where 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:04.159 I lived. I told him up the river Aways, you know. 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:06.119 He said, I have some puppies in there for a 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:08.159 boy that lives up on the river. His name is 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:12.600 Billy Coleman. I know his dad, but never have seen 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:15.639 the boy. I feared he'd be in after him today. 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:20.480 On hearing this remark, my heart jumped up in my throat. 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:23.119 I thought surely was going to hop right out on 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:25.800 the depot platform. I looked up and I tried to 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:29.040 tell him who I was, but something went wrong. When 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:32.439 the words finally came out, they only sounded like like 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:35.480 a squeaky old pulley on our well. When Mama drew 0:18:35.560 --> 0:18:39.080 up a bucket of water, I could see a twinkle 0:18:39.119 --> 0:18:41.880 in the station master's eyes. He came over and laid 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:45.119 his hand on my shoulder. In a friendly voice, he said, 0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:49.520 so you're Billy Coleman. Aw's your dad. I told him 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:52.480 Papa was fine and handed him to slip my grandpa 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:55.960 had given me. Well, they sure are fine looking pupps. 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:58.400 He said, you'll have to go around to the freight door. 0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:02.040 I'm sure my feet never touched the ground as I 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:04.560 flew around the building. He unlocked the door and I 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:07.560 stepped in looking for my dogs, and I couldn't see 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:11.320 anything but boxes, barrels, and old trunks and some rolls 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:16.320 of barbed wire. The kindly stationmaster walked over to one 0:19:16.320 --> 0:19:19.280 of the boxes. Do you want boxing all? He asked. 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:21.679 I told him I didn't want the box. All I 0:19:21.720 --> 0:19:24.879 wanted was the dogs. How are you going to carry him, 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:28.040 he asked, I think they're a little too young to follow. 0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:32.720 I held out my gunnysack. He looked at me, and 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:35.040 he looked at the sack and chucked in. He said, well, 0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:38.440 I guess dogs can be carried that way as anything else, 0:19:38.480 --> 0:19:40.920 but we'll have to cut a hole in there from 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:42.880 the stick to the head through so they so they 0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:47.320 won't smother. Getting a claw hammer, he started tearing off 0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:50.560 the top of the box. His nails gave way and 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:55.200 board splintered. I heard several puppy whimpers. I didn't walk over. 0:19:55.600 --> 0:20:00.120 I just stood and waited. After what seemed like hours, 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:03.359 the box was open. He reached in, lifted the pups out, 0:20:03.680 --> 0:20:06.920 and set them down on the floor. Well, there they are, 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:10.879 he said, What do you think of I didn't answer. 0:20:11.080 --> 0:20:14.240 I couldn't. All I could do was stare at it. 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:17.320 They seemed to be blinded by the light and kept 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:20.200 blinking their eyes. One sat down on his little rear 0:20:20.240 --> 0:20:24.080 and started crying. The other one was waddling around and whimpering. 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:27.920 I wanted so much to step over and pick them up. 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:31.199 Several times I tried to move my feet, but they 0:20:31.200 --> 0:20:34.399 seemed to be nailed to the floor. I knew the 0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:39.119 pups were mine, all mine, yet I couldn't move. My 0:20:39.240 --> 0:20:42.919 heart started acting like a drunk grasshopper. I tried to 0:20:42.960 --> 0:20:47.400 swallow and couldn't. My atom's apple wouldn't work. One pupp 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:51.480 started my way. I held my breath on he came 0:20:51.600 --> 0:20:55.040 until I felt a scratchy little foot on mine. The 0:20:55.080 --> 0:20:57.919 other pup followed, a warm puppy to him, caressed my 0:20:58.080 --> 0:21:02.240 sore foot. I heard the station master say, well, they 0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:06.159 already know you. I knelt down and gathered them in 0:21:06.200 --> 0:21:09.400 my arms. I buried my face between their wiggling bodies 0:21:09.400 --> 0:21:14.119 and cried. The station master, sensing something more than just 0:21:14.200 --> 0:21:24.920 two dogs and a boy, waited in silence. There is 0:21:25.000 --> 0:21:27.560 so much more to talk about that I believe I 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:30.639 could do a whole series on this book alone. But 0:21:30.720 --> 0:21:33.320 there are some listening right now that while they may 0:21:33.320 --> 0:21:36.280 have heard about the book, they ain't never read it. 0:21:36.800 --> 0:21:39.160 There's also some young people that listen, and I'm so 0:21:39.240 --> 0:21:41.680 grateful and thankful to have their ears for a few 0:21:41.680 --> 0:21:45.080 moments each week. I haven't done this in a while. 0:21:45.680 --> 0:21:49.040 I'm giving you all an assignment homework if you will 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:52.560 read this book or listen to the audiobook instead of 0:21:52.600 --> 0:21:56.000 watching either version of the movie. Let Billy and every 0:21:56.240 --> 0:21:59.080 character fit the ones you imagine in your mind. As 0:21:59.119 --> 0:22:03.000 you read, you'll find that what each of those characters 0:22:03.040 --> 0:22:07.240 represents in emotion, good or bad, is way more important 0:22:07.320 --> 0:22:11.080 than what they look like. Let me and Miss Reeven 0:22:11.200 --> 0:22:14.040 know what you think about it and what, if anything, 0:22:14.400 --> 0:22:18.320 speaks to you the most. Man, I sure hope you 0:22:18.440 --> 0:22:20.960 enjoyed this one. I know I did. It's like visiting 0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:25.440 with a childhood friend. It's a simple story with such 0:22:25.440 --> 0:22:29.960 a wonderful, wonderful message. Till next week, it's me and 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:32.120 Old whitealing sing. Y'all be careful.