WEBVTT - Ep. 181: THIS COUNTRY LIFE - Cold Fronts

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to this Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Riggs

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<v Speaker 1>from coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living.

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<v Speaker 1>I want you to stay a while as I share

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<v Speaker 1>my stories and the country skills that will help you

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<v Speaker 1>beat the system. This Country Life is proudly presented as

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<v Speaker 1>part of Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you the best

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<v Speaker 1>outdoor podcast the airways have to offer. All right, friends,

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<v Speaker 1>pull you up a chair or drop that tailgate. I

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<v Speaker 1>think I got a thing or two to teach me.

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<v Speaker 1>Cold fronts, Good night, nurse. It's cold and Arkansas folks

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<v Speaker 1>a lot colder than we're used to and it's all

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<v Speaker 1>because of a big old cold front. And normally we

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<v Speaker 1>look forward to them because they usually ramps up the

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<v Speaker 1>hunting this time of year, but these major ones they

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<v Speaker 1>do just the opposite most of the time. We're gonna

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<v Speaker 1>talk about coal from us today, but first I'm going

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<v Speaker 1>to tell you a story. This story is called Dynamite,

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<v Speaker 1>Ice and Rice. I know more dynamite. I don't want

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<v Speaker 1>you to think that my life was just full of

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<v Speaker 1>stories and incidents that involved explosives, but there were a few,

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<v Speaker 1>and it wasn't limited to dealing with beaver dams. And

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<v Speaker 1>flooded timber. Not this time anyway. This was all due

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<v Speaker 1>to a major coal front and duck hunting right after

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<v Speaker 1>the turn of the century. The most recent one. My

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<v Speaker 1>brother Tim and I were prepping for a group of

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<v Speaker 1>hunters from the East Coast. A large percentage of our

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<v Speaker 1>clients hailed from up and down the Eastern seaboard, and

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<v Speaker 1>they always seemed to travel in herds. Now, other than

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<v Speaker 1>a few exceptions, if we got one of those rascals,

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<v Speaker 1>we got a whole passl of them. Not a problem.

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<v Speaker 1>Tim and I would try. I had a limited number

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<v Speaker 1>of hunters booking at the same time, to about eight,

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<v Speaker 1>and we would split them up and hunt four to

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<v Speaker 1>a guide for safety, and it's easier to hide a

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<v Speaker 1>smaller number of folks in the woods, which is where

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<v Speaker 1>we did the largest portion of our hunting. After all.

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<v Speaker 1>That's why folks travel to Arkansas to duck hunt. They

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<v Speaker 1>want to experience what it's like to have large groups

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<v Speaker 1>of ducks falling into the timber and hovering above the decoys.

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<v Speaker 1>It's one of my favorite things, but seeing others see

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<v Speaker 1>it for the first time is probably my most favorite

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<v Speaker 1>of ault. It's one of those if you know you know, moments,

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<v Speaker 1>and it has to be experienced in the flesh. Pictures,

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<v Speaker 1>stories and even films don't do it justice. Feeling the

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<v Speaker 1>air generated from the thump of beaten wings here, and

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<v Speaker 1>chattering and quacking of drakes and hens as they jockey

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<v Speaker 1>for position to land during the final approach, the splashing

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<v Speaker 1>of feathered bodies as they turn graceful flight into what

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<v Speaker 1>resembles amateur night at the dim Anglicien Derby for the

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<v Speaker 1>final few feet of descent to the surface of knee

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<v Speaker 1>deep water. That's the ticket, man, that's the show. That's

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<v Speaker 1>what you pay your money for. That's what you see

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<v Speaker 1>in your dreams when you lay down at night anticipating

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<v Speaker 1>the next morning's hunt. It plays over and over in

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<v Speaker 1>your head, and like that, one good golf shot out

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<v Speaker 1>of a thousand bad ones keeps a golfer coming back

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<v Speaker 1>to the tea box. The thought of having a chance

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<v Speaker 1>to witness a spectacle such as I just described is

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<v Speaker 1>what keeps a duck hunter spending his hard earned money

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<v Speaker 1>to travel halfway across the country and the off chance

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<v Speaker 1>that they might see it again or for the first time. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>the group we had coming would see none of that,

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<v Speaker 1>not even close, but they would see something just as incredible,

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<v Speaker 1>record lows, the product of a blast of Arctic air,

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<v Speaker 1>ice and snow. The can we talk about down here

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<v Speaker 1>forever and folks up north would probably call a Tuesday

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<v Speaker 1>was forecasted to hit a couple days before they arrived.

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<v Speaker 1>In Arkansas and South Arkansas anyway, any mention of snow

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<v Speaker 1>and ice was anticipated as eagerly as Christmas. Any ice

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<v Speaker 1>on the road meant school would be closed and the

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<v Speaker 1>whole state was shut down with a quarter inch of

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<v Speaker 1>ice or sleep. Literally, I ain't kidding. As a youngin

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<v Speaker 1>I'd go to bed with snow and ice forecasted for

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<v Speaker 1>the following day, having already made my plans on what

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<v Speaker 1>I was going to be hunting the next day, tracking rabbits, quail, deer,

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<v Speaker 1>whatever was in season or close to being in season

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<v Speaker 1>was on the agenda. Then I'd wake up to find

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<v Speaker 1>that the weather man had missed it. Once again, I

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<v Speaker 1>waited for the bus and the cold matter than a

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<v Speaker 1>mashed cat hating school and the weather man. But this time, however,

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<v Speaker 1>he nailed it. Temperatures in the twenties and several inches

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<v Speaker 1>of snow locked up the flooded woods, and Timber. Now

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<v Speaker 1>we told our clients about how everything was locking up,

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<v Speaker 1>but they wanted to come anyway, So Tim and I

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<v Speaker 1>scrambled to find a solution. Now we had an eighty

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<v Speaker 1>acre rice field at least next to forty acres of

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<v Speaker 1>woods that bordered the world famous by Meat of Wildlife

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<v Speaker 1>management area we called by a Meat of the Public

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<v Speaker 1>Shooting Grounds or the Scatters, among other local names. But

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<v Speaker 1>if hunters could get out to the main bow where

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<v Speaker 1>there was some current, they would keep the ducks moving

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<v Speaker 1>in and out instead of just sitting in there like

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<v Speaker 1>it was a sanctuary. There would be plenty of people

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<v Speaker 1>trying to get to those coveted open spots, so the

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<v Speaker 1>competition in there would be fierce, but it would work

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<v Speaker 1>to our advantage if we could just get some open water.

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<v Speaker 1>The evening our hunters arrived, we scouted the rice field,

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<v Speaker 1>which was fifteen minutes away from the camp. Now, ice

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<v Speaker 1>was already a quarter of an inch thick, and the

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<v Speaker 1>temperature wouldn't get close to thirty two for the next

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<v Speaker 1>few days. We drove a four wheeler out in the

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<v Speaker 1>ice and in the water in front of the skid

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<v Speaker 1>blind we had brushed up in the middle of the field.

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<v Speaker 1>We were breaking up a large area of muddy open

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<v Speaker 1>water as we drove in circles and made it shine

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<v Speaker 1>like a diamond. Of ducks coming in with the coal

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<v Speaker 1>front and they were landing in it before we got

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<v Speaker 1>back out on the turn road. To leave open water

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<v Speaker 1>would be the key to our success and a struggle

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<v Speaker 1>to maintain the blind would hold five people safely and comfortably.

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<v Speaker 1>Now that meant we had to stagger our groups. But

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<v Speaker 1>we had a plan that Tim would take his four

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<v Speaker 1>hunters and get in there at daylight. The trailer we

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<v Speaker 1>had for hauling the four wheeler would serve two purposes.

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<v Speaker 1>Once we arrived, he unload the four wheeler, then hook

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<v Speaker 1>it to the trailer to haul our hunters and all

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<v Speaker 1>their plunder along the turn row out to the blind.

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<v Speaker 1>He didn't hook the trailer and make a loop through

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<v Speaker 1>the ice where we were going to put the decoys

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<v Speaker 1>while our clients got in the blind. Now, once he

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<v Speaker 1>had the hole opened up, he'd parked a four wheeler

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<v Speaker 1>behind the blind and start hunting. Ten would hunt from

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<v Speaker 1>the opening of shooting ires till around nine o'clock, and

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<v Speaker 1>then I'd have my crew there where we parked our trucks.

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<v Speaker 1>You're ready to swap out when he came out. It

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<v Speaker 1>was a good plan. The best part was I got

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<v Speaker 1>to sleep late. It had been a long season. My

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<v Speaker 1>Nokia fifty one to ten cell phone started buzzing before

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<v Speaker 1>seven o'clock. The message from ten was y'all come now,

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<v Speaker 1>all caps and with several exclamation marks. Well that wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>a good sign. It was barely shooting light outside and

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<v Speaker 1>my crew had just started getting up and moving around.

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<v Speaker 1>No doubt he's stuck or is having some kind of trouble,

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<v Speaker 1>I thought. So regardless, I needed to get them open,

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<v Speaker 1>get them moving with whatever had transpired at the rice field. Y'all,

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<v Speaker 1>get your stuff up and let's go. We got to

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<v Speaker 1>go right now. Something drong just now. If someone had

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<v Speaker 1>been hurt, he would have said that, so I knew

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<v Speaker 1>whatever the emergency was, it was hunting related and not

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<v Speaker 1>an issue of life and death. So like herding cats,

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<v Speaker 1>I finally got my folks and all their stuff in

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<v Speaker 1>my bronco and we took off. I'd messaged him a

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<v Speaker 1>couple of times to see if I needed to bring

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<v Speaker 1>anything other than what he knew was in my ride,

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<v Speaker 1>but he never answered. In my head, I'm thinking he's

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<v Speaker 1>elbow deep in cold ice and mud, and I figured

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<v Speaker 1>he couldn't answer. So about seven twenty when I pulled

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<v Speaker 1>up to the property and saw Tim with the trailer

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<v Speaker 1>loaded with all his hunters, making their way back toward

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<v Speaker 1>us along the levee. Immediately my mind raised as to

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<v Speaker 1>what we were going to do with these hunters. Now.

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<v Speaker 1>If he's driving back, he's obviously not stuck, so the

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<v Speaker 1>rice field must be frozen up beyond opening up. I figured, man,

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<v Speaker 1>they hadn't been there forty five minutes from the time

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<v Speaker 1>shooting ears opened up until now, and I had no

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<v Speaker 1>idea what we were going to do next. But Tim

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<v Speaker 1>must have a plan. Wouldn't have called me to come over.

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<v Speaker 1>We're sitting in the bronco and I turned to the

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<v Speaker 1>guys that were with me. I said, boys, I don't

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<v Speaker 1>know what's going on, but don't look like we're gonna

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<v Speaker 1>be hunting here today. Their disappointment was obvious, even though

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<v Speaker 1>they didn't say anything. But I was disappointed too. Now.

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<v Speaker 1>As they got closer, one of them said, look at

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<v Speaker 1>all those ducks. I looked out across that field, and

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<v Speaker 1>ducks were piloted into that rice field from every direction.

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<v Speaker 1>I looked back at the trailers. Tim got closer and

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<v Speaker 1>it was filled with mallard ducks and smiling duck hunters.

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<v Speaker 1>I started laughing. I said, y'all, get y'all, get your

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<v Speaker 1>stuff together. The B team is going in now. Tim

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<v Speaker 1>said it was an absolute dream. They couldn't spook the

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<v Speaker 1>ducks out of the field. All his hunters were wanting

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<v Speaker 1>to tell their buddies about what they'd done, but I

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<v Speaker 1>was in a hurry to get them out there. Who

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<v Speaker 1>knew how long this would last, and I wanted all

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<v Speaker 1>of them to have every opportunity to shoot ducks that

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<v Speaker 1>we could give them. So I got my boys loaded

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<v Speaker 1>up and we looked back at that rice field that

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<v Speaker 1>had a tordinata of ducks bombiting that muddy water. I

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<v Speaker 1>told Tim, y'all can wait here if you want. We're

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<v Speaker 1>gonna be back in a few minutes. He didn't wait,

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<v Speaker 1>but I wasn't wrong. Tim and his crew went back

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<v Speaker 1>to fix breakfast for all of us. It took us

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<v Speaker 1>longer to get ready at the camp and get there

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<v Speaker 1>than it did for us to shoot five limits of ducks.

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<v Speaker 1>Wave after wave of ducks being pushed into the area

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<v Speaker 1>where that coal front were falling into the decoys. It

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<v Speaker 1>was too cold to have my lab out there, so

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<v Speaker 1>I was picking up dead ducks and live ones were

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<v Speaker 1>still dropping in. As high as you could see a duck,

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<v Speaker 1>you could call at him, and immediately they locked up

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<v Speaker 1>and fell like a rock. Wings were pressed close to

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<v Speaker 1>their sides, and they sounded like a jet engine as

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<v Speaker 1>they gained speed, getting closer and closer. No circling, no, nothing,

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<v Speaker 1>straight down, like they were on a string. We were

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<v Speaker 1>back at the camp before Tim could get the biscuits done.

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<v Speaker 1>We'd shot ten limits of mallards tag team style. But

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<v Speaker 1>what about tomorrow? What were we going to do about tomorrow?

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<v Speaker 1>Most folks are judging their jobs by their last performance.

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<v Speaker 1>A duck guide has to sell himself on what he's

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<v Speaker 1>going to do next, and I had no clue what

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<v Speaker 1>we were going to do. That ice would be too

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<v Speaker 1>thick to break with the four wheeler. Tim had a plan, though.

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<v Speaker 1>He knew what we were going to do next, and

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<v Speaker 1>what we were going to do next was going to

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<v Speaker 1>be just as entertaining as what we had just done.

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<v Speaker 1>We planned to hunt after the sun came up the

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<v Speaker 1>next day. It would give us time to safely put

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<v Speaker 1>our plan into action. We had acquired two sticks of

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<v Speaker 1>tovekx tovax more or less replaced dynamite than that. It

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<v Speaker 1>was safer the store and handle back then you could

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<v Speaker 1>legally buy it. That's enough of that. That's not the

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<v Speaker 1>important part of the story. Anyway. Our plan was to

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<v Speaker 1>blow a hole in the ice that had become a

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<v Speaker 1>lot thicker through the night. Breaking it with a four

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<v Speaker 1>wheeler wasn't possible any longer. We could do doughnuts without

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<v Speaker 1>even trying. All ten of us were walking on the ice,

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<v Speaker 1>jumping up and down, trying to make a hole, slipping

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<v Speaker 1>and falling and generally risking life and limb. At one

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<v Speaker 1>point I looked around and everyone had fallen and was

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<v Speaker 1>on their backs, flopping around like someone had kicked over

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<v Speaker 1>the shining bucket in the bottom of the boat. It

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<v Speaker 1>was slick, and I'm not sure we could have broken

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<v Speaker 1>through with a truck. Enter tovex Tim with the explosives prepped,

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<v Speaker 1>He lit the fuse and we retreated to the relative

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<v Speaker 1>safety to witness the festivities. How long you cut that

0:12:56.840 --> 0:13:00.600
<v Speaker 1>fuse for tens old about any time now, And with

0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:08.120
<v Speaker 1>that it detonated with a large boom. Our clients were

0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:11.360
<v Speaker 1>cheering from the levee After they had all taken refuge

0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:13.720
<v Speaker 1>behind the four wheeler trailer about one hundred yards away.

0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:16.600
<v Speaker 1>Tim and I had tucked in behind the duck bline.

0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:20.760
<v Speaker 1>The results were less than we'd hope for, but we

0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:23.719
<v Speaker 1>had managed to knock a hole in the ice, a

0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:27.440
<v Speaker 1>hole almost big enough sticky foot in. Now we had

0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:30.440
<v Speaker 1>one more stick left, but decided against putting it in

0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:33.680
<v Speaker 1>that hole for fear of reckon the laser level filled

0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:37.280
<v Speaker 1>that we had leased. Doubtful the farmer would have appreciated

0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:39.400
<v Speaker 1>a big low spot in this dead center where we

0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:42.560
<v Speaker 1>were hunting the coming spring when planting time came, So

0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:46.360
<v Speaker 1>we all worked as hard as we could to make

0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:49.440
<v Speaker 1>that hole about the size of a kitchen table. The

0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:51.760
<v Speaker 1>biggest chunks of ice we slid into the ice that

0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:54.320
<v Speaker 1>we could that we couldn't break, or just lay it

0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:57.520
<v Speaker 1>on the outside of the hole. Then we threw three

0:13:57.559 --> 0:14:00.000
<v Speaker 1>decoys in it and called it good. It was all

0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:03.960
<v Speaker 1>we could do, and it worked like a charm. The

0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:06.160
<v Speaker 1>wind was steady, and the ducks that were coming in

0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:09.160
<v Speaker 1>were all migrators and looking for a place to sit,

0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:13.280
<v Speaker 1>no matter how small the hole was they wanted water.

0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:17.480
<v Speaker 1>It was literally the perfect storm. Temput all our hunters

0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:19.800
<v Speaker 1>into the blind and we stood behind it and we

0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:23.160
<v Speaker 1>shot another full ten man limit that afternoon, just like

0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:27.640
<v Speaker 1>we'd done the day before when we alternated groups. On

0:14:27.680 --> 0:14:30.640
<v Speaker 1>the third day, we were frozen solid and our guests

0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:33.280
<v Speaker 1>got an early start back home. We tried to talk

0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:35.880
<v Speaker 1>them out of coming at the beginning, but they wanted

0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:39.720
<v Speaker 1>to experience an Arkansas duck on now. While they didn't

0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:43.640
<v Speaker 1>get it in the classically historic sense, what they did

0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:48.800
<v Speaker 1>get was an experience with some Arkansas flare, and that's

0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:58.120
<v Speaker 1>just how that happened. Cold fronts, Man, We looked forward

0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:01.120
<v Speaker 1>to cold fronts as much as anything done. Number One,

0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:03.640
<v Speaker 1>it's going to start giving you some relief from the

0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:06.680
<v Speaker 1>heat that is the south. And number two, if you're

0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:10.040
<v Speaker 1>a duck hunter, it usually means more ducks are coming.

0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:13.000
<v Speaker 1>Ducks only go as far south as they have to.

0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:16.200
<v Speaker 1>They're fueling up to make it through the winter, select

0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:18.880
<v Speaker 1>a mate and travel back north to make more ducks.

0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:22.120
<v Speaker 1>So if stut guard Arkansas is as far south as

0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:24.800
<v Speaker 1>they need to go to have food and water, that's

0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:28.400
<v Speaker 1>where they'll spend the winter. If it stays warmer further

0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:31.640
<v Speaker 1>north will be their cold weather home. It's been my belief,

0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:35.640
<v Speaker 1>not from schooling, but from observation over the past almost

0:15:35.880 --> 0:15:39.640
<v Speaker 1>fifty years of chasing them, that ducks are energy hoarders,

0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:42.720
<v Speaker 1>and they're only going to burn enough to sufficiently stay

0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:45.320
<v Speaker 1>healthy enough to do what ducks do this time of year,

0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:49.960
<v Speaker 1>which again is to prep for making more ducks. Snow

0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:52.360
<v Speaker 1>and ice that cover and freeze all the food sources

0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:55.600
<v Speaker 1>up yonder force all the waterfowl to make tracks to

0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:58.640
<v Speaker 1>my neck of the woods. I remember watching the weather

0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:01.720
<v Speaker 1>man talking about all better bundle up and have plenty

0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:05.560
<v Speaker 1>of firewood on hand. There's a big coal front coming now.

0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:08.240
<v Speaker 1>My wife can hear a forecast like that, and she

0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:11.360
<v Speaker 1>starts inventoring wool socks and seeing how many she can

0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:15.160
<v Speaker 1>put on at the same time, just to stay inside.

0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:18.640
<v Speaker 1>All I hear him saying is Brent, you better get outside.

0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:21.760
<v Speaker 1>The critics are stirring now as I'm telling you all this.

0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:24.000
<v Speaker 1>I've been locked in the house for the past three

0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:28.920
<v Speaker 1>days because a particularly big coal front came through, bringing snow, ice,

0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:33.360
<v Speaker 1>and single digit temps in a historically low water year

0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:36.600
<v Speaker 1>that froze the water. We did have while giving the

0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:40.400
<v Speaker 1>lowest duck numbers recorded in the past twenty five years,

0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:43.640
<v Speaker 1>the old boot in the breeches, kicking them on down

0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:46.840
<v Speaker 1>the road. The light at the end of the tunnel

0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:49.000
<v Speaker 1>is it'll start warming up in the next day or

0:16:49.000 --> 0:16:52.320
<v Speaker 1>so and the ducks should start moving back in before

0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:55.560
<v Speaker 1>duck seasoned plump slips away. Now that's the ebb and

0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:59.920
<v Speaker 1>flow of coal fronts. Low duck numbers and unprecedented lower

0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:03.680
<v Speaker 1>There was a time when I wouldn't have missed a

0:17:03.680 --> 0:17:05.840
<v Speaker 1>minute of it, and Tim and I would have been

0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:09.399
<v Speaker 1>somewhere where there was open flowing water, even in this

0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:13.760
<v Speaker 1>severe cold, because there's one thing that's one hundred percent

0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:18.080
<v Speaker 1>guaranteed in nature, and that there is no one hundred

0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:23.399
<v Speaker 1>percent guarantees all the water doesn't freeze, all the ducks

0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:27.280
<v Speaker 1>don't leave, and all the duck hunters don't stay home.

0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:31.919
<v Speaker 1>Derek Reynolds a man who was first introduced to me

0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:35.119
<v Speaker 1>and Tim when he was a teenager. He wanted to

0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:38.040
<v Speaker 1>duck hunt and needed someone to take him, and we did,

0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:42.480
<v Speaker 1>and Derek became a member of our family. He now

0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:45.240
<v Speaker 1>has a beautiful family of his own, and he became

0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:48.560
<v Speaker 1>a staple at our guide service when he was a kid,

0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:51.880
<v Speaker 1>and if we'd ever had an official mascot, it would

0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:54.480
<v Speaker 1>have been him. And once they got to do with

0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:57.680
<v Speaker 1>cole fronts, well, I'll tell you. Derek sent me in

0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:01.600
<v Speaker 1>tim a pitcher this morning. It was ten degrees and

0:18:01.680 --> 0:18:03.840
<v Speaker 1>Derek and a friend of his were posing with two

0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:07.240
<v Speaker 1>limits of ducks. There was some open flowing water in

0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:11.600
<v Speaker 1>the background. The picture made me shiver just looking at it.

0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:16.360
<v Speaker 1>An aluminum boat with frozen mud, dirty snow, and covered

0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:19.600
<v Speaker 1>with ice. The mount of clothes those boys were wearing

0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:22.159
<v Speaker 1>reminded me of Randy in the movie A Christmas Story.

0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:26.240
<v Speaker 1>My response to this text was heck yeah, But in

0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:30.960
<v Speaker 1>parentheses I wrote, I'm glad I wasn't there, but that

0:18:31.119 --> 0:18:35.119
<v Speaker 1>was a lie. I would have been there. I've been

0:18:35.160 --> 0:18:37.520
<v Speaker 1>stoke for the past three days to get out and

0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:40.200
<v Speaker 1>see what's shaking in the woods. And I'm not sure

0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:44.199
<v Speaker 1>if it's habit and learned behavior or genetically ingrained in

0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:46.680
<v Speaker 1>me to be outside when it's cold, but that's where

0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:50.239
<v Speaker 1>I want to be. Maybe cold fronts affect me just

0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:52.760
<v Speaker 1>like they do other creatures. Now, I don't have any

0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:55.720
<v Speaker 1>scientific data to back that up, but I bet there's

0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:58.639
<v Speaker 1>something to it. I do know the coon stay in

0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:00.720
<v Speaker 1>the den for the most part where I live when

0:19:00.760 --> 0:19:03.880
<v Speaker 1>it's this cold, so cutting whaling loose would be more

0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:07.600
<v Speaker 1>like an exercise and futility. If I wanted to tree

0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:11.000
<v Speaker 1>a coon outside of his den, and with my duck

0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:14.680
<v Speaker 1>holes frozen up and dear not moving much, I've had

0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:16.919
<v Speaker 1>to lay up in the house and wait out the

0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:20.280
<v Speaker 1>cold TIMPs, just like an old boor coon, getting more

0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:24.560
<v Speaker 1>anxious every day. Then, when I thought staring out the

0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:26.920
<v Speaker 1>window at iced over roads and snow was going to

0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:29.879
<v Speaker 1>be my new hobby, a road greater and a salt

0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:33.800
<v Speaker 1>truck passed by my house. Then Michael Rosemand called and said,

0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:37.040
<v Speaker 1>get your stuff together. I've got some beagles and we're

0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:40.960
<v Speaker 1>going rabbit hunting. Man, old man, how I love a

0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:50.480
<v Speaker 1>cold front in this country life of mine. Thank y'all

0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:53.359
<v Speaker 1>so much for listening. Chuck a big log in that

0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:56.600
<v Speaker 1>fireplace that'll still be burning when you get back home.

0:19:56.760 --> 0:20:01.040
<v Speaker 1>Bundle up and get yourself outside, take someone with you,

0:20:01.160 --> 0:20:04.400
<v Speaker 1>and enjoy the gifts of winter. We don't know how

0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:06.640
<v Speaker 1>many of these we're going to get, and we need

0:20:06.680 --> 0:20:09.120
<v Speaker 1>to take advantage and revel and the ones we did

0:20:10.080 --> 0:20:14.080
<v Speaker 1>Until next week This is Brent Reed signing off. Y'all

0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:14.600
<v Speaker 1>be careful.