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 coon 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 --> 00:00:23,200 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 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: grab a chair or drop that tail gate. I've got 8 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: some stories to share. The Country Store. The country Store 9 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:44,879 Speaker 1: was the hub of a lot of activity throughout a 10 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: rural community. Times have change, and with less people living 11 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:52,560 Speaker 1: in the country, and with modern development moving the city 12 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: limits further and further away from town, those places are 13 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 1: becoming a thing of the past. I'm talking about them 14 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: and what I think we're missing when they're going away, 15 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: and what we can do to preserve everything that was 16 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: the country Store. I think you'll like it, even if 17 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 1: you've never been in one, and after you listen you 18 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: may realize that maybe, just maybe you have. But first, 19 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 1: I'm going to tell you a story. Finus. That's pH 20 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:37,240 Speaker 1: I n I E. S. Finess Sly. My maternal grandfather 21 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,039 Speaker 1: had a head full of white hair and it had 22 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 1: turned that way early in his life. Making him look 23 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: older than he was now. One thing he was not 24 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: was quote unquote an old man even when he was one. 25 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: He was strong and smart as anyone educated beyond his 26 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 1: high school diploma, and was a reader of everything. He 27 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 1: was self educating him cell pH on anything he could 28 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:08,959 Speaker 1: pick up and read at night before bedtime. Readers, Digest, 29 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:14,799 Speaker 1: Popular Mechanics, National Geographic, Progressive Farmer, and Western novels were 30 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: his favorite. He was also the epitome of a Southern gentleman. 31 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:23,520 Speaker 1: He worked every day at the farm and at that 32 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: time our family store, Slies Grocery. Sunday after church would 33 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,040 Speaker 1: find him at the farm looking after the chickens, the hogs, 34 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 1: and the cows, and put a lot of work into 35 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:37,359 Speaker 1: his farm and his business, and so that the folks 36 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,920 Speaker 1: that worked for him. He believed in doing things the 37 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: right way, treating folks like he wanted to be treated, 38 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:49,519 Speaker 1: and had a low tolerance for anything else. Let me 39 00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: jump a whole generation later, and while I was occasionally 40 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:56,880 Speaker 1: attending college, I worked as a weekend dispatcher at the 41 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: local police department. The chief of police at that time 42 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: in the mid eighties, had been the chief since the 43 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: late fifties and he told me a story once about 44 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: my grandfather and our store. He said he was standing 45 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:14,640 Speaker 1: outside of the police department talking with someone when a 46 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:16,959 Speaker 1: man from out of town walked up to him, nursing 47 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 1: a black eye in a bloody nose. He claimed to 48 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: have been attacked and assaulted by an old man at 49 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:27,320 Speaker 1: a store on the edge of town. The man said 50 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,520 Speaker 1: the altercation was unprovoked and proceeded to explain to the 51 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: chief the location of where the incident occurred. He had 52 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: the man waited city hall while he drove out to 53 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: my grandfather's store, reasonably sure that he knew who the 54 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: alleged perpetrator was since everyone in town knew my grandfather. 55 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: What he didn't know, since he knew my grandfather so well, 56 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: was what had actually happened and why now. Upon arrival, 57 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: he said he remembered my mother sitting on the counter 58 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: in the store, laughing when he walked in, my grandfather 59 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 1: standing in front of the counter, ready to meet his fate, 60 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: and my grandmother saying, well, finus, that temper of yours 61 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: has landed you in jail this time now, my mother. 62 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: My mother said she and other folks who were in 63 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: the store shopping when the fight occurred, saw the whole 64 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 1: thing from start to finish, and were standing there waiting, 65 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:28,800 Speaker 1: ready to tell their side of the store. Here's what happened. 66 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 1: The man, unknown to my grandfather, had asked for a 67 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 1: tank of gas and a bill of groceries on credit. 68 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: My grandfather explained to him that since he didn't know 69 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 1: him and he didn't have anyone with him that could 70 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: vouch for his ability to pay him back, he wouldn't 71 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: be able to help him out, but if he could 72 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: get someone to speak up for him, he'd be glad 73 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: to help him. The man got angry and my grandfather 74 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: told him to leave the store, and as he was leaving, 75 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:03,240 Speaker 1: he said he's had some very profane things to my grandfather, 76 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:07,000 Speaker 1: which probably would have been bad enough, but he made 77 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: the mistake of saying it in front of my mother, 78 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:12,599 Speaker 1: who was just a teenage girl at the time, and 79 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:18,360 Speaker 1: my grandmother, who was a saint all the time. According 80 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:21,600 Speaker 1: to the chief of police and my mother. My grandfather 81 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:24,040 Speaker 1: grabbed an axe handle as he walked by a barrel 82 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:26,679 Speaker 1: full of him that were for sale and that sat 83 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:30,200 Speaker 1: beside the door. As he walked out following the man, 84 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:34,599 Speaker 1: words were exchanged outside about his lack of manners, and 85 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:39,600 Speaker 1: shortly thereafter a lesson in manners was given and received. 86 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:46,040 Speaker 1: Sly's Grocery Store in Warren, Arkansas a place where you 87 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:51,360 Speaker 1: could get staples like groceries, gas, and educated on manners. 88 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: No arrests were made more on that place than a minute. 89 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:08,520 Speaker 1: But that's just how that happened. The big indoor mall, 90 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 1: the strip mall, and all the other businesses that would 91 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: become the modern day places to meet, eat and shop 92 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: all have the country store to think. The rural business 93 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:22,679 Speaker 1: for exploring Europeans trading goods and services started soon after 94 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:25,360 Speaker 1: they hit the bank in search of a better life, 95 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:30,320 Speaker 1: adventure and treasure. Everyone at one time or another had 96 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,279 Speaker 1: to make a Walmart run, and that started not long 97 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 1: after May the thirteenth of sixteen oh seven, when one 98 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: hundred and four enterprising men and boys started making tracks 99 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:44,480 Speaker 1: from their boats westward on the beaches of Virginia after 100 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:47,080 Speaker 1: four and a half month at sea that kicked off 101 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: from London, England. I bet the lads were getting a 102 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: little spicy by the time they hit the east coast. Unfortunately, 103 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:57,719 Speaker 1: the first washing area was still one thousand, three hundred 104 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: and fifty nine miles away in Fort Worth, Texas, and 105 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: wouldn't be invented for another three hundred and twenty seven years. 106 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: Now that's a long time to wait for clean drawers. Fortunately, 107 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 1: there was someone willing to fill the void for services. 108 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 1: The country store, or a reasonable facsimile of what we know, 109 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: is one soon after I told you about the little 110 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,320 Speaker 1: store of my youth, not far from where we lived, 111 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: that sat in the wye of the gravel road, that 112 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: if you went right coming from town, when you got there, 113 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: it would take you to our house, and if you 114 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:35,760 Speaker 1: took a left, you were headed toward Crane Lake or 115 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 1: the Saline River. That little country store was owned and 116 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 1: operated by a lifelong resident of the community who ran 117 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: it until he retired. It was sold to an enterprising 118 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 1: family whose questionable hand washing was brought to light back 119 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 1: on episode one thirteen of This Country Life. You should 120 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:56,680 Speaker 1: go back and listen to that one if you hadn't 121 00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:01,640 Speaker 1: already anyway, the country store in most places was the 122 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: department store of today. They didn't have it. They could 123 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 1: order it, they couldn't order it, more than likely didn't 124 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 1: need it. Everything from canned grocers to bread, leather goods, clothes, 125 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: and bullets and beans could be bought there with credit 126 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:22,560 Speaker 1: accounts for those that qualified, the qualifications being that their 127 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:25,320 Speaker 1: word was good and when and if there was ever 128 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 1: a problem, someone would be standing before the grocer with 129 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: the reason why they needed extra time to pay or 130 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:34,840 Speaker 1: make an offer to trade something of value or time 131 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:41,800 Speaker 1: and labor against their unpaid balance. Remember my Grandpa papall Sly, 132 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: the Southern gentleman's store owner. Well, he and his wife 133 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 1: Beulah known to us all including my friends as Mamasly, 134 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 1: lived in town across the road from that store. They 135 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:56,960 Speaker 1: had sold it by the time I got old enough 136 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: to remember it, but my mother told me stories of 137 00:08:59,679 --> 00:09:03,320 Speaker 1: my grandfather extending credit to folks that needed help and 138 00:09:03,679 --> 00:09:05,960 Speaker 1: tolding the note for him for a long time, or 139 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: sometimes forgiving some debts altogether. For families that were just 140 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: struggling but trying. He delivered some groceries to those that 141 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 1: didn't have a car, and not everyone did back then. 142 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:22,280 Speaker 1: He'd load the pickup with the orders people had called 143 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:25,560 Speaker 1: in and my grandmother had gathered up from the shelves. 144 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:28,560 Speaker 1: Then he would make his deliveries and collect what was oweding. 145 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 1: Most families that had accounts at the store worked for 146 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 1: the lumber mills in town that would pay their bills 147 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:37,440 Speaker 1: from the previous weeks on payday as new groceries were 148 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:41,320 Speaker 1: delivered from their orders. It was a good system, and 149 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: it worked for the most part. There were a few 150 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:47,280 Speaker 1: that tried to get by and take advantage of my 151 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:52,640 Speaker 1: grandfather's generosity. Excuses were cheap and plentiful, and even when 152 00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:54,960 Speaker 1: he knew better, my mother told me he'd give them 153 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:58,520 Speaker 1: the benefit of the doubt until they crossed the line. 154 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:01,280 Speaker 1: I had to go with him when he made his 155 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:05,600 Speaker 1: rounds delivering groceries and collecting the money. Regardless of the task, 156 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:07,959 Speaker 1: he'd let her go with him, the little girl sitting 157 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 1: beside him as they went through the neighborhoods, dropping off 158 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:14,800 Speaker 1: goods and collecting payments. She hopping out of the truck 159 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 1: in her little ruffled dresses and bows in her hair, 160 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:19,680 Speaker 1: walking with him to greet all the people that she 161 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 1: knew that traded in her daddy's store. She told me 162 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:27,920 Speaker 1: the one day, after several stops, he pulled up to 163 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 1: someone's house that was notorious not only for not paying 164 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: his bills, but for not taking care of his family, 165 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:38,840 Speaker 1: not the way he should have spending more time looking 166 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:41,960 Speaker 1: for something to drink and work and provide feed his 167 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: wife and children. My grandfather got out of the truck, 168 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:47,839 Speaker 1: and as she slid over in the seat to get 169 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 1: out too, he said, no, baby, you stay here this time. 170 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:55,320 Speaker 1: And with that, my grandfather reached behind the seat of 171 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:58,360 Speaker 1: the truck and took out a hammer and walked up 172 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:01,680 Speaker 1: the path to the front door of the house. Called 173 00:11:01,679 --> 00:11:06,080 Speaker 1: the man out on the porch. She said. He came out, 174 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:08,400 Speaker 1: and I could hear Daddy talking to the man and 175 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:11,199 Speaker 1: the man talking back, but I couldn't hear what they 176 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:15,280 Speaker 1: were saying. They were both talking really low. Then the 177 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:17,120 Speaker 1: man went back in the house, and he came back 178 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 1: with some money and handed it to my daddy like 179 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 1: he was mad, and he started to go back in 180 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:26,560 Speaker 1: the house, but Daddy wouldn't let him leave. Then your 181 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:30,280 Speaker 1: grandpa counted some money out, stuck it in his shirt pocket, 182 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:34,200 Speaker 1: and handed the man back what was left. The man 183 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:38,839 Speaker 1: looked surprised, and they shook hands. And he never said 184 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 1: what they talked about or exactly what happened on that porch. 185 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:44,560 Speaker 1: But after I got older, I knew why he took 186 00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 1: the hammer with him, But I also know that he 187 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:50,680 Speaker 1: gave the man back money that he owed my daddy 188 00:11:50,720 --> 00:12:06,200 Speaker 1: with a promise to use it for his family. The 189 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: first example I highlighted in this opening story of this 190 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:12,720 Speaker 1: podcast about my grandfather may make him seem like he 191 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,000 Speaker 1: was a mean or a violent person, and if you 192 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:19,800 Speaker 1: think that, you'd be wrong. The second account described him perfectly. 193 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:22,960 Speaker 1: He was a well respected member of the community who 194 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:25,960 Speaker 1: would give all he could until the giving took away 195 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 1: from his ability to take care of his family. Family 196 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:34,160 Speaker 1: was his first priority, and he believed everyone else's priority 197 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: should be family as well. He stopped at nothing to 198 00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:41,800 Speaker 1: take care of his and would do all he could 199 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:46,560 Speaker 1: to take care of others. Country stores were a lot 200 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,960 Speaker 1: of things. The main things they were was a community 201 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:54,200 Speaker 1: gathering place for friends and neighbors to visit. A few 202 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 1: miles up the road in New Edinburgh, Arkansas, there were 203 00:12:56,960 --> 00:13:00,600 Speaker 1: several stores that fit this mold over time, only one 204 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:04,680 Speaker 1: remains there now. It was there that we would gather 205 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:07,560 Speaker 1: sometimes after a morning of hunting during turkey season. We 206 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:10,000 Speaker 1: checked the signing sheet to see if anyone had killed 207 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 1: the turkey, and meet at the back to hear everyone's 208 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,480 Speaker 1: report from what had gone on during the summer. We'd 209 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:19,959 Speaker 1: be there buying crickets and crappy jigs, asking in line 210 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:24,439 Speaker 1: about where the fish were or weren't biting. My all 211 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:26,959 Speaker 1: time favorite was when it was cold outside and there 212 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:28,720 Speaker 1: was a fire in the wood stove and the old 213 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:32,120 Speaker 1: men were holding court, reading the paper and drinking coffee 214 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:35,600 Speaker 1: and solving all the world's problems. Right there in the 215 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:38,559 Speaker 1: back of that story, you could warm your hands, you're 216 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:42,440 Speaker 1: behind and your soul with stories of long ago from 217 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:47,040 Speaker 1: the folks who witnessed and lived. Those places are fewer 218 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:52,959 Speaker 1: and further between now, but they're still around. Eleven years ago, 219 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 1: back when I was still having to really work for 220 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:58,080 Speaker 1: a living, my job took me to a little community 221 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 1: in the Delta region of eastern arc and Saw farming 222 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 1: was and still is the main employer in that area. 223 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:08,360 Speaker 1: And that'sle between large expansions of plowed ground rest the 224 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:14,680 Speaker 1: tiny community of Melwood, Arkansas, sporting a bustling population of 225 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:17,720 Speaker 1: twenty one. It lies one mile due west of Island 226 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:22,200 Speaker 1: sixty five, the famous Jackson Point Hunting Club on the 227 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:26,840 Speaker 1: Mississippi River. This place is exactly what I assumed it 228 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 1: would feel like walking into my grandfather's store sixty years 229 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:34,280 Speaker 1: ago and warned, and what it did feel like walking 230 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:36,760 Speaker 1: into the one in neew Edinburgh, where I lived later 231 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:40,920 Speaker 1: in life. I was there around dinner time or lunch 232 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:43,400 Speaker 1: if you prefer but I went in to get a 233 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,040 Speaker 1: cold drink and something to eat, and the smell of 234 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:48,360 Speaker 1: cooking food drew me to the back of the store 235 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 1: and I ordered the plate lunch. I don't remember what 236 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 1: it was. I just remember it was good and hadn't 237 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:57,320 Speaker 1: been microwaved. I sat down at a table and across 238 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:00,360 Speaker 1: from me sat several folks who were older than me. 239 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:04,400 Speaker 1: They weren't eating, not yet anyway, but I could tell 240 00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 1: this was their group and regular place to meet, to 241 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:12,280 Speaker 1: sit and to visit. I needed to be on down 242 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:14,440 Speaker 1: the road at another point of interest that was the 243 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:17,240 Speaker 1: focus of my trip. I was on a schedule, and 244 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:20,040 Speaker 1: the twenty minutes out allotted to eat that day quickly 245 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 1: turned into an hour and a half. I got home 246 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 1: that evening two hours late and told Alexis about my 247 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:30,880 Speaker 1: day when she asked, and it was the best day 248 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:34,720 Speaker 1: I'd had at work in a long time. It inspired 249 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 1: me to write the following day what I'd like to 250 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 1: read to you now February seventeenth, twenty fourteen. Two and 251 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:47,160 Speaker 1: a half hours from my home is a forgotten farming community. 252 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:50,760 Speaker 1: A post office that could fit inside my house stands 253 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 1: next to a general store. The flag of our nation 254 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:57,520 Speaker 1: flaps gently in the breeze, and here it seems time 255 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:02,040 Speaker 1: stands still. The old folks are positioned behind and in 256 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:05,040 Speaker 1: front of the counter and places one can imagine or theirs, 257 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:09,800 Speaker 1: places that they assumed yesterday, places they will be tomorrow, 258 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 1: and places they will be as long as they're able. 259 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:17,640 Speaker 1: The floor creaked with ages. I walked inside, but it 260 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:20,960 Speaker 1: held firm. It held the way things hold that were 261 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:24,320 Speaker 1: built when the measure of a craftsman was gaged by time, 262 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:29,600 Speaker 1: not budget. Invited, I sat down and we talked, And 263 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:32,880 Speaker 1: for an hour I talked with four old strangers who 264 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:36,520 Speaker 1: spoke of family in simple times. Little Rock was a 265 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:39,200 Speaker 1: far away place. If they chose not to go, why 266 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:43,640 Speaker 1: should they? Everything and everyone they needed was here, And 267 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:48,200 Speaker 1: for an hour they let me watch. I missed those 268 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 1: folks today, in the times of which that encounter reminded me. 269 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:55,320 Speaker 1: Majority of you who will read this and played a 270 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:58,080 Speaker 1: part one way or another in my life, and without you, 271 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:01,080 Speaker 1: good or bad, I wouldn't be where I am today 272 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:07,760 Speaker 1: and today, my friends, I'm in a good place now. 273 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:10,280 Speaker 1: That's what I wrote that day, and all these years later, 274 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:13,439 Speaker 1: I still get the same feeling of reverence reading it 275 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:16,359 Speaker 1: now as I did then. It makes me want to 276 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:18,480 Speaker 1: get up and drive over there to see my old 277 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:21,640 Speaker 1: friends at a place I have never returned, to see 278 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:25,440 Speaker 1: people whose names I never learned, and people I'd never 279 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:29,280 Speaker 1: seen before that day, but made a lasting impression on me. 280 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:37,360 Speaker 1: Just the same, Bellwood's Grocery is still open. I have 281 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:39,840 Speaker 1: no idea how long it's been there, and even though 282 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:43,160 Speaker 1: I've only been there once in person, I've been there 283 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 1: a thousand times in my memory, just like mister almas 284 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:50,400 Speaker 1: Mark's story at the why in the county road where 285 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:54,280 Speaker 1: my brothers and sisters, cousins and I would make our 286 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:59,199 Speaker 1: way to either walking, riding bicycles, horses, or hitching a 287 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:03,240 Speaker 1: ride from someone headed in that direction, a four and 288 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:06,600 Speaker 1: a half mile trip on a hot, dusty gravel road 289 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 1: that held the promise of adventure and discovery between home 290 00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:14,000 Speaker 1: and a coke if we had enough money a candy 291 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:18,359 Speaker 1: bar or two to share. Those roads are all paved 292 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 1: now and have been for a long time, and I 293 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: drive them now without kicking up a torn of dust 294 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:26,160 Speaker 1: as I make my way along those roads that six 295 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:31,760 Speaker 1: generations of my family before me it as well. I 296 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:34,600 Speaker 1: wonder what they thought about as they traveled along, passing 297 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:38,160 Speaker 1: familiar homes and places. At what point did the reverence 298 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:41,200 Speaker 1: for this land and the community become so strong among 299 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:46,680 Speaker 1: the folks who've lived there. It's always been an important 300 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:50,680 Speaker 1: place in my life. Naturally, everyone's home is, but sometimes 301 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:55,159 Speaker 1: it takes moving away just to see how important those 302 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:58,880 Speaker 1: places are, or visiting a place for the first time 303 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:01,960 Speaker 1: that it's so similar to your own you feel right 304 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:06,120 Speaker 1: at home from the beginning. Places like these are all 305 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:10,280 Speaker 1: around us, and they don't necessarily have to be isolated. 306 00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:14,119 Speaker 1: Rural stores with hot, dusty, barefooted youngers running in and 307 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:19,600 Speaker 1: out of a park bench, a diner, a church, a 308 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:22,680 Speaker 1: friend's front porch, any place where we have an occasion 309 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:26,600 Speaker 1: to pause and enjoy the company of familiar faces, even 310 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:31,639 Speaker 1: those of strangers, all looking for the same thing, kind 311 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:38,400 Speaker 1: word from an old friend or a new one. Tomorrow 312 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:41,080 Speaker 1: is March the first, and me Bear John and his 313 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,800 Speaker 1: pappy Clay Bow will be attending the Black Bear Bonanza 314 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 1: at the Benton County Fairgrounds in Bentonville, Arkansas. Look up 315 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 1: the Black Bear Bananza twenty twenty five and get directions 316 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:54,920 Speaker 1: and ticket information. It's going to be a lot of fun, 317 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:59,520 Speaker 1: so load the wagon and y'all come. Seis until next week. 318 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:03,240 Speaker 1: This is it read sign it off. Y'all be careful.