WEBVTT - Ep. 103: THIS COUNTRY LIFE - Freight Trains and Hurricanes 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:09.240 Welcome to This Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves. 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:13.680 From coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living. 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:16.040 I want you to stay a while as I share 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:18.479 my stories and the country skills that will help you 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:22.320 beat the system. This Country Life is proudly presented as 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:25.880 part of Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you the best 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:30.000 outdoor podcast the airways have to offer. All right, friends, 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.040 pull you up a chair or drop that tailgate. I 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:34.760 think I got a thing or two to teach you. 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:43.080 Welcome to meat Eaters This Country Life Podcast with me 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:46.440 Brent Reeves. Some of you may know me from my 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:49.600 Shenanigans on the Bear Grease Render with my buddy Klay Nukelem, 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:52.599 but most of you are probably saying, who is this 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:55.040 cat and why should I be listening to him? Well, 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:58.280 I'm going to tell you because I know stuff about 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:01.480 living in the country, and on the podcast, I'm going 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:03.280 to tell you the stories you need to hear and 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:05.800 teach you the country skills that will help you beat 0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:09.560 the system. Folks that know me are saying, Brent, you've 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:12.560 been a police officer for over thirty years. What do 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:17.000 you mean beat the system? Maybe nonconformity is a better 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:20.959 way to approach it. Miss Roberts, my eleventh grade English teacher, 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:25.520 called me a walking example of a nonconformist. I'm not 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:28.600 talking about dodging the draft, not having good manners, or 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:31.600 cheating on your taxes. I'm talking about that good old 0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:35.080 country common sense that goes against all what I call 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:39.200 corporate thinking. I like doing my own thing, and that's 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:42.560 the best results for everyone. This show could be a 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:46.160 weekly focus of one sad story after another relating to 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:49.520 my job. After all, folks don't call nine one one 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:52.760 to spread good news. It's a daily grind of seeing 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:56.840 even the best people at their worst times, day after day. 0:01:57.360 --> 0:02:00.760 But we ain't gonna do that. We're going to focus 0:02:00.800 --> 0:02:03.800 on the good days and the lessons learned in everyday 0:02:03.840 --> 0:02:06.640 country life. And I'll throw a police story in there 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:10.640 too when it's appropriate. After this introductory episode where I 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:12.880 tell you who I am and a little about myself, 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:15.160 I'm gonna start the rest of them by telling y'all 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:18.000 what the topic of the week is, what you can 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:21.160 expect to learn before it's over, and then hit you 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:23.040 with a story to get you good and settled. And 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:25.000 then we're going to jump in with both feet by 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:29.000 the country skill. Everyone should know. Hunting, fishing, and just 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:31.720 general country living is what we're going to be talking about. 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:35.040 If it can be done in rural America, it's fair 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:39.000 game on the list, and the lessons learned can usually 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:49.560 be applied everywhere here we go. I grew up on 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:53.080 a small farm in southeast Arkansas, and my whole world 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:56.880 hinged on my next adventure in the outdoors. I love 0:02:56.919 --> 0:03:01.000 to hunt anything and everything. I ran a trapline before 0:03:01.040 --> 0:03:03.600 catching the bus during the winter. From age twelve until 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:07.280 I graduated high school, we rode horses and hunting squirrels 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:11.519 with dogs. They'd also bay hogs. As a matter of fact, 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:14.760 we hunted just about everything with dogs other than turkeys. 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:18.920 Mountain curves, walkers, pointers, and labradors were what we used 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:24.400 most for hunting squirrels, coons, quails, ducks, deer, and codies. Also, 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:28.120 there wasn't a bluegill, brim bass, or catfish safe that 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:32.280 swam anywhere near the tippid waters of Cleveland County. My 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:36.000 family's heritage and legacy in that part of Arkansas dates 0:03:36.040 --> 0:03:39.640 back to when it became a state, and hunting, fishing, 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:43.640 and farming wasn't just a way of life. It was 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:48.920 the only way of life. The Saline River, that most 0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:51.760 holy stretch of water that runs from north to south 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:55.040 through the heart of Cleveland County, remains to this day 0:03:55.480 --> 0:03:59.360 the life blood of my family's past and the focus 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:03.440 of our future. The boat ramp that we frequented most 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:08.839 is named the Lloyd Wilton Buddy Reeves Seline River access 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:11.680 by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission in honor of 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:15.360 my father, a never ending tribute to him and my 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:19.360 family's love for that spot on Mother Earth. My ancestors 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:22.080 depended on the fishing game that lived in and along 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:25.880 this Washita River tributary, and I was fully convinced as 0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:28.560 a child that we owned it and had since the 0:04:28.600 --> 0:04:31.200 first trickle of water found its way through those woods. 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:36.080 My first memories are there amongst my family and those 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:41.400 river bottoms. There were two seasons in my mind, hunting 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:45.920 and fishing. Neither one involved school. I didn't really mind school, 0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:48.920 I just didn't have time for it. There were traps 0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:51.159 to be set and run, fish to be caught, and 0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:55.159 creeks to be explored. Everything that I considered fun and 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:58.880 sitting in a schoolhouse wasn't one of them, which reminds 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:01.560 me of a story. Pretty well, how these weekly visits 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:04.000 are going to go. I'm going to start talking about 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:06.720 something that will remind me of something else, and I'm 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:08.640 going to tell you about it and then get back 0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:10.960 to the main subject I started with. Now, I promise 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:14.040 it ain't going to be confusing. The whole thing ain't 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:17.440 gonna last but about twenty minutes, So just relax and 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:20.840 hang on. The story I'm reminded of happened when I 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:24.000 was in the sixth grade. The friends that I'd see 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:26.400 and play with was the only reason I would get 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:28.640 on the bus to go every day. That and my 0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:30.880 mama would give me a whooping if I didn't. But 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:34.840 on this particular day, I had a plan. An unnamed 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:37.279 friend of mine and I had noticed every day when 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:39.839 we got to school, me getting off the bus and 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:42.000 him getting out of his mama's car because he lived 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:45.400 in town, that the pot latched train that traveled from 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:47.960 one side of town to the other hauling wood chips 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:51.359 from the sawmill to the steam powerhouse and bunks of 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:54.880 lumber to the dry hills, passed by the school, and 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:57.920 the tracks were only a short distance from the front door. 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:02.599 Every morning was the same get off the bus stand 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:06.039 in front of the school, aggravate girls. The bell would 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:09.360 ring all the younguns and the duty teacher would go inside, 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:12.640 and the potlatch train would roll by at a blistering 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:15.880 pace a puppet could keep up with. From the front 0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:19.000 door to the railroad track was less than forty yards. 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:23.640 In addition, the train would come back about fifteen minutes 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:27.159 before the bell rang to go home every day. These 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:31.200 facts had not gone unnoticed by myself or my associate. 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:33.960 I don't know how many days we planned it, but 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:37.640 it was several. Everything had to be perfect. The two 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:40.599 main things that had to happen was the duty teacher 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:44.279 needed to go in before we did, and the train 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:47.920 had to be right on time. It was a Wednesday, 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:52.039 the third morning before it all came together. Now, this 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:54.720 wasn't our first foray into fight in the system, so 0:06:54.760 --> 0:06:58.240 the regular duty teacher was adamanty that US two go 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:01.400 in before she did, amongst all that cackling heard of 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:05.400 fifth and sixth graders. But on Wednesday we had a substitute, 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:10.600 and apparently she didn't get the memo operations see you later. 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:17.480 Chumps was a goat. It was perfect in every way. 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:20.280 I saw the sub when I got off the bus. 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:23.800 My buddy was already there, grinning like a baked possum. 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:27.200 We knew that freedom was only one more step away. 0:07:27.240 --> 0:07:30.000 And as the bell rang, that old familiar sound of 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:34.040 that squeaking, rumbling train echoed around the corner of the schoolhouse. 0:07:34.360 --> 0:07:37.720 It was go time. We lagged behind the teacher who'd 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.560 gone in amongst a large group of kids, and slipped 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:43.080 around the corner and waved at the engineer as he 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:46.280 drove past. We hopped on the last box car and 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:48.880 rode it to the depot that was conveniently in the 0:07:48.920 --> 0:07:52.680 dead center of town, a block off Main Street, right 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:55.960 beside the YMCA Little League Field, in a short walk 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:59.400 from my buddy's house. We went to his house, crawled 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:02.120 in a window, and tried to watch TV, but back 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:04.240 then there was only three channels, and every one of 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:06.800 them had some kind of soap opera playing. So we 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:09.680 went down to the town branch, and there wasn't enough 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:12.600 water running in it to float a stick, no snakes 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:15.240 to catch, no frog eggs to chunk at one another, 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:19.200 so we decided we'd just go eat. Now. My partner 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:21.680 had some money, and he sprung for our dinner, and 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:24.040 that's what we called the new meal, and we edit 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:29.000 at the Wayne's Cafe on the Square in downtown Warren, Arkansas. 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:32.200 We shot a couple of games of pool and pinball 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:34.560 in the back of the building while the old men 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:38.359 that were regular smoked cigarettes and solved the world's problems. 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:43.040 They were oblivious to our presence. Coincidentally, next door was 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:46.240 the bank where my mama was busy working, and assuming 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:48.800 I was in the school, we decided to leave. As 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:50.800 we walked out the front door, I poked all the 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:53.559 money I had left in the cigarette machine and skipped 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:56.200 out the door fifty cents poor and a pack of 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:59.680 Lucky Strikes richer. We walked in broad daylight down the 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:01.920 side walk, in front of God and everybody in a 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:06.280 town where everyone knew everyone, and not one soul said 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:08.600 a word to us or told our parents they'd seen 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:11.079 us in town when we were supposed to be in school. 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:14.320 We made it back to the depot, climbed up in 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:17.000 an open top box car, and waited for the train 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:21.199 that told us back across town to the schoolhouse. We 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:24.120 were sitting on tons of pine chips about the size 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:27.040 of a half dollar, smoking lucky strikes like they wasn't 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:29.800 going to make them anymore. When the train jerked and 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:33.200 commenced us take us back across town. We rode along, 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:35.280 looking at the sites over the top of that box 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:37.199 car like we were riding on the City of New 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:41.240 Orleans instead of the warning Saline River Railroad. When we 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:44.200 got back across town, we climbed down the ladder on 0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:47.400 the opposite side of the school, bailed off the train 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:49.960 at the exact spot we got on it that morning, 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:52.959 waited while the train rolled on by it and hidding 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:56.520 the bushes till the bell rang. When it did, we 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:59.319 walked across the tracks to the school and blended into 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:01.520 that stem. He the children that poured out of that 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:04.400 building like it was on fire. He got in the 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:06.640 car rider line, and I walked up on the bus 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:09.560 like my name was on the title. It was absolutely 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:12.400 the most fool proof plan I'd ever devise, even up 0:10:12.440 --> 0:10:16.679 till now. My pals on the school bus immediately recognized 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:20.000 my achievement after not seeing me all day, and gave 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:22.640 me the proper respect that afford it by not saying 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:25.520 a word about it. We could have been caught at 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:28.360 any turn, but for reasons unknown to either of us. 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:32.760 We weren't. We never got caught. No one would know 0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:35.000 about it if I hadn't just fessed up to it. 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:39.040 Two young lads not quite twelve years old had conspired 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:42.680 to beat the system, and we did. They both would 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:46.400 grow up and be involved in law enforcement, me on 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:49.080 the badge tote in the end and him on the other. 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:52.640 I think about it sometimes, and I wonder how it 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:55.840 come to him growing up and violating the law and 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:59.400 me making a living out of enforcment. I don't have 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:02.360 an answer. All I know for sure is if it 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:04.920 had to be one of us going rogue, I'm glad 0:11:04.960 --> 0:11:13.440 it was him, all right. I've been a police officer 0:11:13.520 --> 0:11:17.160 in the state of Arkansas since nineteen ninety one. I've 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:23.240 worked everything from patrol, swat undercovered narcotics, burglaries, homicides, you 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:27.240 name it, I've done it. I've served with some fine folks, 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:30.840 some real heroes, and I think I've seen just about 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:33.040 every kind of person there is, the good ones, the 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:36.120 bad ones, and all those in between. I've been in 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:38.320 a few tight spots when I didn't know if I 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:41.280 was going to make it back home, which reminds me 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:44.320 of a perilous story that has absolutely nothing to do 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:48.360 with law enforcement. But peril is peril. There ain't no 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:50.440 difference to the dead man it being dead at the 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:53.760 hands of some outlaw or a dangerous thunderstorm in the 0:11:53.760 --> 0:12:00.320 middle of the Arkansas River. I spent cal t less 0:12:00.360 --> 0:12:03.680 hours with my older brother Tim chasing animals, none so 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:07.920 much as waterfowl. To catch these beautiful creatures, one must 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:11.320 implore the use of many different types of equipment that 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:17.280 usually includes waiters, firearms, boats, ATVs. And to be successful, 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:19.880 you must be in the places ducks like to gold 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:24.560 like rivers, lakes, reservoirs, et cetera. All of these items 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:28.240 and the places you use them have one thing in common. 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:30.840 They are all capable of killing you if you use 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:34.800 them the wrong way or if you don't respect them. 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:37.679 I've come close to migrating to that great duck blind 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:39.800 in the sky on more than one occasion. This is 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:43.319 one particular one that comes to mind. It was opening 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:46.640 day in the late eighties. Tim and I were sitting 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:50.600 under the Pendleton Bridge, which crosses the mighty Arkansas River, 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.600 well before daylight, trying to wait on a thunderstorm to 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:56.680 go by our boat was ready to launch our gear, 0:12:56.800 --> 0:13:00.040 placed it in its appropriate spot, decoys sacked up and 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:02.599 loaded in the boat, and each of us anxious to 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:05.840 get to the morning's hunt and get the duck season started. 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:10.200 My black lab Anne was also anticipating, and she just 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:12.600 walking back and forth under that bridge looking at me 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:16.920 like saying, you know, come on, let's go. Darkansas River 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:19.520 has claimed many lives, and Tim and I have been 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:22.080 on it before when storms blew in and it's not 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:25.120 safe to be navigating the river when mother nature's letting 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:28.439 off a little steam. We impatiently waited in about forty 0:13:28.440 --> 0:13:32.160 five minutes before sun up, the rain stopped, the clouds 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:35.200 broke apart, and we launched the boat for the fifteen 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:41.600 minute ride upriver to our spot. We made our way 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:44.960 to the place that we picked out, relieved that the 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:47.400 weather had improved, and looked forward to a good hunt now. 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:50.000 When we got there, we quickly set up the decoys, 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:53.360 finished preparing for the hunt just as the sun started 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.520 to brighten the horizon. I can recall a few ducks 0:13:56.520 --> 0:13:59.000 flying that morning. I think I think we only killed 0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:02.080 like a green wing till or two before they absolutely 0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:06.199 just stopped flying. The storm that morning had moved in 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:10.079 from the southwest, dropped an enormous amount of rain, blew 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:13.160 the rest of the leaves off the trees, and left 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:17.280 nearly as fast as it had approached. Unbeknownst to us, 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:19.640 the storm we like to refer to now as Hurricane 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:22.840 Muskrat was just warming up and getting ready to put 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:31.520 on a big show. The second storm came with twice 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:34.480 the ferocity of the first one. It rolled right over 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:36.920 the type of us. We quickly loaded the boat with 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:39.480 our gear, grabbed the dog, and headed for the boat ramp. 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:42.160 As we tried to make our way down river, the 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.920 wind was blown right in our face and against the current, 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:47.760 building two and three foot waves that washed over front 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:51.360 of the boat, soaking everything that was dry and filling 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:54.960 our boat like a water trough. I knew we'd never 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:57.320 make it to the boat ramp, so I turned the 0:14:57.360 --> 0:15:00.440 boat toward a small sandbar and headed there ast as 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:03.200 I could. I ran the boat up on the sand 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:05.800 and Tim and Ann and I sprinted to a small 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:10.240 depression that held about three inches of water. Muskrats had 0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:12.960 tunneled into one end of the pothole, and the river 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:15.640 had broken through. When the water level was higher and 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:18.520 allowed it to drain, exposing the pothole like it was 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:21.800 like a shallow soup bowl. We hunkered down near the 0:15:21.840 --> 0:15:24.440 down current end of the pothole, and putting our backs 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:27.720 to the bank, attempted to light as flat as we could. 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:31.480 The wind was blown so hard that it was raining sideways, 0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:35.080 and the lightning that came with it was purple frequent 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:40.440 and Buddy, it was way too close. Lightning was striking 0:15:40.440 --> 0:15:43.040 the sandbar, and we could feel the concussions of thunder, 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:45.720 and that was the only thing that drowned out the 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:48.600 noise of the wind in the rain. I was scared. 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:52.160 Tim looked up the bank of the pothole and saw 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:55.080 a muskrat then that had partially washed out below the 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:57.920 rim and offered a little more protection from the storm. 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:01.360 The washout was about three feet wide, and the top 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:05.560 of the bank hung over the opening like a little cave. Now, 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:08.240 on a normal day, a small child wouldn't have had 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:12.120 enough room to sit in there and play. On this day, me, 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:15.440 Tim didn't have any problem getting in there and still 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:18.320 had room to include the dog. The storm got so 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:20.800 bad that I started worrying about the river washing the 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:24.760 boat away. Had that happened, we would have literally been 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:27.840 up the creek without a paddle or a boat from 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:30.400 which to paddle it. I told Tim that I was 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:32.920 going to check on the boat, which was like less 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:36.360 than one hundred yards from our shelter across the sandbar, 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:38.400 but you couldn't see it because of how hard it 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:41.520 was raining. I took off of the boat and Anne 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:44.760 took off with me. The wind blew her sideways, and 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:46.720 then it blew her off her feet as she tried 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:49.040 to stay at my heel. So I went back to 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:51.240 the muskrat then and told her to stay with Tim. 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:54.880 I found the boat and it was completely swamped and 0:16:54.920 --> 0:16:57.960 going nowhere. The weight of the water had welded it 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:01.480 to the sandbar. Ran fast as I could back to 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:03.880 Tim and Anne and staying as low as I could 0:17:03.920 --> 0:17:06.840 while lightning was hitting all around me, and promising to 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:09.639 live my life in a better fashion if I could 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:13.240 just live to see another day. Crawling back into that 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:16.040 foot and half space made me realize that fear and 0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:18.879 love of life are ample motivators when it comes to 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:22.879 accomplishing of gold. The water level in that pothole was 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:25.320 about three inches when we first crawled in. When we 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:28.000 got out of it. It it risen over two feet. 0:17:28.720 --> 0:17:31.720 This storm only lasted about forty minutes, but as fast 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:35.199 as it started, dislike the other one, it ended. The 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:37.880 rain stopped, the wind died down, and the clouds began 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:41.639 to clear. We emptied our boat, made it back to 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:44.439 the ramp and headed to Star City, Arkansas. That was 0:17:44.440 --> 0:17:47.120 the closest place we knew of that had a washing area. 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:50.200 You might call it a launder mat, but whatever you 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:52.679 call it, it was our only hope to get our 0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:56.840 clothes dried so we could hunt that afternoon. I told Tim, 0:17:56.960 --> 0:17:59.320 we just robe in the launder mat, put our waiters on, 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:08.960 and wait for clothes to drive. Thirty minutes later, we 0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:11.840 slid to a stop in front of the washingteria. The 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:14.399 windows were fogged over from the cold outside and the 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:17.480 warm inside. We were freezing, and when we walked in, 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:19.840 the heat from those dryers felt so good on my 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:22.680 skin that I came out of those waiters and commenced 0:18:22.720 --> 0:18:25.840 to peeling off layer after layer of wet clothes, and 0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:29.879 Tim was busy doing the same. We were two rows 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:32.560 of washing machines away from the front door. We just 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:36.280 walked in. We got down to our union suits about 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:38.280 the same time, you know, the red ones with the 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:41.760 flaps in the back. These were the only garments standing 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:45.480 between us and nudity. But since no one else was 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:48.000 there and no one could see through the windows, we 0:18:48.160 --> 0:18:50.760 both just hunkered down behind the row washing machines that 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:53.720 was going to completely hide us and everything you're not 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:57.200 supposed to scratch in public, and started unbuttoning our thumrels. 0:18:57.840 --> 0:19:00.240 It was at this time that one of the three laddies, 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:03.600 who were all sitting in a row and unnoticed beside 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:06.359 the door we just walked in, said boys, are you 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:11.359 all going to charge us anything for this? If I'd 0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:14.320 have had anywhere to go, that would have been my 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:17.520 cue to get gone. Tim looked at me, bug eyed 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:22.639 and squeaked out, no, ma'am, and they started laughing. They 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:25.840 turned their heads, held up some newspapers and continued to 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:28.600 laugh while we slipped back into our waiters and crammed 0:19:28.640 --> 0:19:31.159 all our clothes and the biggest dryer in there. We 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:34.400 had absolutely not seen them, and I rushed to get 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:37.639 in there to get warm and dry. And normally you 0:19:37.720 --> 0:19:39.879 go home after a start like that, but we didn't. 0:19:40.400 --> 0:19:43.520 It was opening day and we beat the system first 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:48.159 of all, by living then getting dry and only changing 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:51.680 our location, not our plans to go hunting. Of course, 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:53.719 if we'd had some extra clothes with us, I wouldn't 0:19:53.720 --> 0:20:04.120 even be telling this story. Now, that's a couple examples 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:07.560 of who I am. You'll be learning more about me 0:20:07.760 --> 0:20:11.280 and my life experiences as we go along. First and foremost, 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:14.080 I'm a husband, a father, and a grandfather, and those 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:16.560 are the best jobs I've ever been blessed to have. 0:20:17.240 --> 0:20:21.200 I'm also an outdoor videographer writer that's been fortunate enough 0:20:21.280 --> 0:20:24.720 to travel to some amazing places to capture on him 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:28.560 some incredible hunts. Helping people and having fun. That's what 0:20:28.720 --> 0:20:30.560 I like to do, and that's what I'm going to 0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:33.960 continue to do. That's what this whole podcast is about. 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:36.920 And if we can't do both every week, I bet 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:39.560 we can do one or the other. My dad told 0:20:39.600 --> 0:20:41.520 me when I was a little boy that there's no 0:20:41.720 --> 0:20:44.359 place you'll ever be that you can't have fun, and 0:20:44.480 --> 0:20:47.200 if the place you are ain't fun, then you make 0:20:47.240 --> 0:20:50.280 it fun. I ain't ever forgot that, and that's how 0:20:50.359 --> 0:20:52.720 I try to live my life. So if you like 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:55.520 hearing stories and want to learn a country skill, or 0:20:55.560 --> 0:20:58.359 two that can impress your friends, maybe raise your credit 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:01.359 score and help you beat the system. I expect to 0:21:01.440 --> 0:21:04.560 see you here next week. Bring a friend and an 0:21:04.640 --> 0:21:07.480 extra set of clothes. You might need them. This is 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:10.560 Brent Reeves signing off. Y'all be careful.