WEBVTT - Ep. 201: THIS COUNTRY LIFE - Working with My Dad

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

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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. The teacher working

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<v Speaker 1>with my dad. I spent a lot of time with

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<v Speaker 1>my dad throughout the year, hunting and fishing. It goes

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<v Speaker 1>without saying that there are tons of memories from those

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<v Speaker 1>outings and adventures and plenty of tales to tell. But

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<v Speaker 1>I also went to work with him a lot on

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<v Speaker 1>his job. We're going to talk about that today, but

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<v Speaker 1>first I'm going to tell you a story. Every summer,

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<v Speaker 1>when I was out of school, I spent as much

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<v Speaker 1>time with my dad as possible. We were always fishing,

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<v Speaker 1>hunting his hounds on the nights. It wasn't just blistering hot.

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<v Speaker 1>My dad was a cold hunter. And I've talked about

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<v Speaker 1>how you do that, at least how he and his

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<v Speaker 1>friends did it down here, But for those that may

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<v Speaker 1>be new to the podcast, here's a recap. Seldom did

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<v Speaker 1>we ever see the cold. Rarely did the cold suffer

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<v Speaker 1>any damage. We just listened to the dogs run until

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<v Speaker 1>he got away, or got close to the highway private

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<v Speaker 1>land that we couldn't hunt on, or we got ready

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<v Speaker 1>to go home. Then we just caught the dogs and

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<v Speaker 1>went home. But this story ended about one of those

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<v Speaker 1>times we stayed out all night listening to and trying

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<v Speaker 1>to keep up with a pack of walker hounds. It's

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<v Speaker 1>not about catching a mess of fishing, cooking them up

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<v Speaker 1>on the bank of the Slain River, our river, or

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<v Speaker 1>shooting a sack of the squirrels, only to give most

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<v Speaker 1>of them away because my dad wouldn't have had one

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<v Speaker 1>of them had he been starving slapped to death. He

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<v Speaker 1>would keep a few and fix them for me. But

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<v Speaker 1>even then he didn't like doing that. He hated skinning them.

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<v Speaker 1>He really didn't like touching them. They looked too much

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<v Speaker 1>like a rat to him. And if one fell in

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<v Speaker 1>the water, one shot out of a tree and got

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<v Speaker 1>his tail wet, he wouldn't touch it. But he loved

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<v Speaker 1>hunting them. Weird, I know, but he liked to give

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<v Speaker 1>him away the folks that did eat them. There was

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<v Speaker 1>an old man that lived down the road that favored

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<v Speaker 1>squirrels as much as I did. My Dad would trade

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<v Speaker 1>them to him for once a good family term. I know,

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<v Speaker 1>snake bite medicine. One mess of squirrels equaled one pint

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<v Speaker 1>jar of snake bite medicine. Even enough about squirrels right now.

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<v Speaker 1>In the summer, I would go to work with my dad.

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<v Speaker 1>My dad retired as a serviceman for Tyson Foods. The

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<v Speaker 1>serviceman was someone who went around to area fall they

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<v Speaker 1>were under contract to raise chickens for the company. It

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<v Speaker 1>was my dad's job to check on each individual grower.

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<v Speaker 1>When I was a baby, he first worked for England

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<v Speaker 1>Farms and Mister Jack England and Rise in Arkansas. Over

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<v Speaker 1>time he would work for Valmac Industries, Tasty Bird, and

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<v Speaker 1>then the Northwest Arkansas based Tyson Foods. He basically did

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<v Speaker 1>the same job for all of them, and according to

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<v Speaker 1>the Pharmsy Service, he was good at it. Unfortunately, the

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<v Speaker 1>same couldn't be said for all his farmers. Some of

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<v Speaker 1>them Dad would brag about to me. He was proud

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<v Speaker 1>of how they farmed and raised the chickens. After all,

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<v Speaker 1>the better their chickens did, the more money they made.

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<v Speaker 1>The more money they made, the bigger Dad's bonus was.

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<v Speaker 1>Now Dad equated to dogs, horses, hooks and bullets for me.

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<v Speaker 1>So it was in my best interest that when I

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<v Speaker 1>was helping him, that I was really helping him. Now.

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<v Speaker 1>Dad had a weekly schedule that he made out himself,

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<v Speaker 1>regulated around the age of the chickens at each farm.

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<v Speaker 1>He worked from home, and unless he needed supplies from

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<v Speaker 1>the office in Rising where the hatchery was located, or

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<v Speaker 1>had to deliver feed samples to the meal and pine bluff,

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<v Speaker 1>he would work like a man possessed, traveling to area farms,

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<v Speaker 1>inspecting the houses and talking to the farmers, and just

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<v Speaker 1>in general being the representative for the company to the

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<v Speaker 1>farmer and the farmers representative to the company of trying

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<v Speaker 1>to maintain a good working relationship between both. He may

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<v Speaker 1>have been an employee of the company, but he always

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<v Speaker 1>worked on the farmer's behalf. They were folks just like us,

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<v Speaker 1>country people working hard and trying to make a living,

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<v Speaker 1>raised chickens, cattle, and crops. My grandfather on my mother's

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<v Speaker 1>side was an independent egg farmer that raised, processed, and

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<v Speaker 1>sold his own eggstra stores. I say that to say

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<v Speaker 1>the poultry industry was big in our area and very

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<v Speaker 1>important economically to a lot of families. It still is,

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<v Speaker 1>but just like other things, some oaks are better at

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<v Speaker 1>it than others. My dad had an inspection book that

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<v Speaker 1>resembled a policeman's ticket book. It was itemized with boxes

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<v Speaker 1>to check on cleanliness of the house. I know you're thinking,

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<v Speaker 1>how could a chicken house be cleaned with chickens in it,

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<v Speaker 1>But trust me, it can be and it can sure

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<v Speaker 1>be dirty. He monitored the overall condition of the house,

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<v Speaker 1>water in the feed systems, and the apparent health of

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<v Speaker 1>the flock. Had a space where Dad could write in

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<v Speaker 1>suggestions to correct deficiencies and a copy of that report

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<v Speaker 1>which stayed with my dad and get turned in with

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<v Speaker 1>his activity reports for the month. It was my job

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<v Speaker 1>to fill those reports out according to Dad's observations. They

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<v Speaker 1>never dinged anyone though on those reports. If he could

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<v Speaker 1>keep from it, he'd talked to the farmer and tell

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<v Speaker 1>them what they needed to do differently to keep from

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<v Speaker 1>shining a bad light on them. Some of the chicken

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<v Speaker 1>houses were old, but well taken care of and for

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<v Speaker 1>a chicken house clean. Some were newer and not. Some

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<v Speaker 1>of the conditions were due to just not knowing or

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<v Speaker 1>having a grasp on the new techniques and equipment that

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<v Speaker 1>helped maintain a more proficient chicken house, and others one

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<v Speaker 1>in particular, was due to just plain laziness. I went

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<v Speaker 1>to that farm several times one summer. Now you could

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<v Speaker 1>kind of see what was coming when you turned off

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<v Speaker 1>the county road and headed down the drive past the

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<v Speaker 1>old junkie house that the farmer lived in and pulled

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<v Speaker 1>up in front of his new junkie chicken house. Dad

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<v Speaker 1>didn't give him on paper any of the times, but

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<v Speaker 1>he talked to him one on one with me acting

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<v Speaker 1>like I wasn't listening. Weekly. On the second to last

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<v Speaker 1>trip I made to that farm that summer, I could

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<v Speaker 1>tell my dad had had his fill of the sub

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<v Speaker 1>par conditions of that house and the poor health of

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<v Speaker 1>the chickens. He told him over and over that if

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<v Speaker 1>he didn't start showing some signs of improvement, that the

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<v Speaker 1>company wouldn't renew his contract to raise chickens. Now, I

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<v Speaker 1>didn't know it at the time, but had that happened,

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<v Speaker 1>he'd have had no way of making the mortgage on

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<v Speaker 1>that new chicken house. He was letting fall in decline,

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<v Speaker 1>and he would have lost the land that sat on

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<v Speaker 1>and he put up for clatteral when he built it. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>I grabbed the inspection book and pen and started to

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<v Speaker 1>bail out of the truck to get to work checking

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<v Speaker 1>the boxes when Dad told me to check on our

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<v Speaker 1>second to last trip there, and Dad said, you stay

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<v Speaker 1>in the truck I need to talk to mister Bob alone.

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<v Speaker 1>Now here's a disclaimer. His name was his name wasn't Bob.

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<v Speaker 1>But I shut the door and I rolled the window

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<v Speaker 1>down as Dad walked around in front of the truck

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<v Speaker 1>toward the chicken house door, reaching for the handle, about

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<v Speaker 1>the same time mister Bob opened it up and stepped

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<v Speaker 1>out of it. I heard it all, Bob, this place

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<v Speaker 1>looks like a junkyard. The outside, while it doesn't look good,

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<v Speaker 1>ain't as bad as the inside. And I've done all

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<v Speaker 1>I can do for you. You're a good man, but

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<v Speaker 1>you have got to do something, and you got to

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<v Speaker 1>do it before next week when I come back. I've

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<v Speaker 1>run out of excuses for you, Bob, and you've got

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<v Speaker 1>me in a bind. They know I'm covering for you,

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<v Speaker 1>and your last two batches of chickens have been terrible.

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<v Speaker 1>Mister Bob looked at the ground the whole time my

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<v Speaker 1>dad was talking to him. I didn't want to be there.

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<v Speaker 1>I was just a kid, but I could see the

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<v Speaker 1>embarrassment on his face, and I felt bad for him.

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<v Speaker 1>It was always so nice to me, if you'd give

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<v Speaker 1>me a quarter, nearly every time he saw me. I

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<v Speaker 1>remember that when he brought his hand out of his pocket.

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<v Speaker 1>I never saw more than one, and Dad and I

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<v Speaker 1>talked about that years later, and he said, son, he'd

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<v Speaker 1>probably gave you the only one he had. Well that day,

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<v Speaker 1>mister Bob looked at my dad for the first time

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<v Speaker 1>since we got there, and he told him this batch

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<v Speaker 1>of chickens will be different. Buddy, you got my word. Now.

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<v Speaker 1>Next week we went back and things started getting better.

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<v Speaker 1>The chickens were being tended to, and some of the

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<v Speaker 1>junk around the outside was gone. What wasn't gone had

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<v Speaker 1>been neatly stacked and organized. Even the grass had been mowed.

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<v Speaker 1>A month or so later, that batch of chickens went out.

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<v Speaker 1>Dad said he was still the worst chicken grower he had,

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<v Speaker 1>but it was the best batch that mister Bob had

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<v Speaker 1>ever grown. I went back with Dad for the last

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<v Speaker 1>time that summer to see mister Bob's farm. He was

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<v Speaker 1>busy cleaning the old shavens and the chicken litter out

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<v Speaker 1>of his house with his tractor and getting ready for

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<v Speaker 1>a new batch of chickens that would arrive in a

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<v Speaker 1>few days. He seemed happier, I know my dad was.

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<v Speaker 1>I climbed up on that tractor and sat in the

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<v Speaker 1>seat that mister Bob had just crawled out of, and

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<v Speaker 1>while he and Dad talked, I was listening. He said.

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<v Speaker 1>My Dad said, Bob, you've done good. That's the best

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<v Speaker 1>batch of chickens you ever raised. Mister Bob told him,

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<v Speaker 1>I thank you for your help, buddy, You've been good

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<v Speaker 1>to me. Now my dad every more. The jokester looked

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<v Speaker 1>a man dead and eye and said, it's a good

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<v Speaker 1>thing you had this turnaround. I only had two excuses

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<v Speaker 1>left for you before they fired me, Bob. Mister Bob said,

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<v Speaker 1>what was it. Dad said, I was going to tell

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<v Speaker 1>them you were either planting them too deep or too

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<v Speaker 1>close together. And that was the first time I ever

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<v Speaker 1>saw mister Bob laugh. And that's just how that happened

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<v Speaker 1>Monday Tuesday in about half a Wednesday would start early

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<v Speaker 1>in the summer. Breakfast was usually at someone's farm we'd

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<v Speaker 1>show up to conveniently around breakfast time. It was always

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<v Speaker 1>good too, not a dud in the bunch. Whatever farm

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<v Speaker 1>we found ourselves at around mill time was always a winner.

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<v Speaker 1>Lots of farmers and their wives would cook forest and

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<v Speaker 1>Dad had already vetted the good ones and arranged our

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<v Speaker 1>schedule to arrive at certain times of the day. Between

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<v Speaker 1>meals were good too. After all, I was a growing

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<v Speaker 1>boy and I never met a quarter milk and a

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<v Speaker 1>bag of powdered doughnuts. I didn't like. I needed the energy.

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<v Speaker 1>One of my jobs was to climb the feed bends

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<v Speaker 1>on the outside of the chicken house and look down

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<v Speaker 1>inside through the top hatch and count the section of

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<v Speaker 1>metal rings above the current feed level, so Dad would

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<v Speaker 1>know how much feed the order for him. The sun

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<v Speaker 1>would beat down on that galvanized medal, and the only

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<v Speaker 1>cool thing about that job was climbing the ladder, even

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<v Speaker 1>the ladder was hot enough to scald a hog. My

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<v Speaker 1>dad hated climbing those bends, and in his later years

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<v Speaker 1>of work and he kept a box of rocks in

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<v Speaker 1>the cab of his truck. He pulled up the side

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<v Speaker 1>a feed bend, and instead of climbing it, he chunked.

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<v Speaker 1>He chunked rocks at it, listening for the tone it

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<v Speaker 1>made when he hit at the medal, and repeat it

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<v Speaker 1>until he found the spot where the feed stopped. Then

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<v Speaker 1>he'd order the appropriate amount of feed. I bet he

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<v Speaker 1>didn't climb one feed bend ladder the last five years

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<v Speaker 1>he worked before he retired. There was a lady in there,

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<v Speaker 1>Star City, Arkansas, that worked on a man's farm, and

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<v Speaker 1>I would love to know her history and how she

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<v Speaker 1>wound up here. But miss Hudson was from Ireland and

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<v Speaker 1>she had the most beautiful accent way of talking. It

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<v Speaker 1>was hard for me to understand her at times, but

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<v Speaker 1>I love to hear her talking laugh, and my dad

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<v Speaker 1>was good at making folks laugh. She dressed like she

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<v Speaker 1>was straight out of Central Casting for what you'd imagine

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<v Speaker 1>an Irish grandmother would look like. She smiled a lot,

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<v Speaker 1>and when she looked at me, she had the kindest

0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:52.080
<v Speaker 1>eyes I believe I've ever seen. I noticed it even

0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:54.160
<v Speaker 1>as a little boy, and I think of her often

0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:57.280
<v Speaker 1>now as a grown man, but I never really knew her.

0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:00.440
<v Speaker 1>She was just one of a number of folks that

0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:03.920
<v Speaker 1>I'd see every summer making the rounds to all the farms.

0:13:05.360 --> 0:13:08.480
<v Speaker 1>They weren't all as nice as Miss Hudson. The incident.

0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:13.200
<v Speaker 1>This incident happened after a feed truck driver got stuck

0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:15.960
<v Speaker 1>in on gravel road that the farmer had built between

0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:20.720
<v Speaker 1>two chicken houses. Now, the road was there for the

0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:24.160
<v Speaker 1>feed trucks to use, but had been freshly graveled, and

0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:27.840
<v Speaker 1>unfortunately big rain had come the day before the feed

0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:31.040
<v Speaker 1>truck got there. I keep in mind that these feed

0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:34.480
<v Speaker 1>trucks aren't they're not pickups. They could be as big

0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:37.400
<v Speaker 1>as a concrete truck or an eighteen wheeler, depending on

0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:40.760
<v Speaker 1>how much fee they were delivering. Now, this truck driver

0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:44.000
<v Speaker 1>drove right up in the middle of the freshly gravel road.

0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:47.880
<v Speaker 1>After the rain had absolutely buried that truck to the axis.

0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:52.280
<v Speaker 1>The farmer came off the chain, screaming and cussing that

0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:56.000
<v Speaker 1>poor truck driver something terrible who was doing everything he

0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:59.400
<v Speaker 1>could to apologize for his mistake. He told him to

0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:01.800
<v Speaker 1>never come back to his farm, and it upset the

0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:04.439
<v Speaker 1>driver so bad that he walked away, leaving the truck

0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:09.000
<v Speaker 1>there and quit. And sometime later the office got in

0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:11.000
<v Speaker 1>touch with my dad and he went down to talk

0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:15.040
<v Speaker 1>with a farmer and try to resolve the issue. By

0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:17.200
<v Speaker 1>the time he got there, a wrecker had removed the

0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:19.640
<v Speaker 1>feed truck and the farmer was there with a shovel

0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:24.600
<v Speaker 1>by himself, repairing the damaged road. My dad didn't say

0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:27.520
<v Speaker 1>a word to him. He just grabbed a shovel out

0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:29.960
<v Speaker 1>of the back of his truck and started in helping

0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:33.760
<v Speaker 1>him shovel gravel back in the deep ruts. A few

0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:37.320
<v Speaker 1>minutes went by before anyone said anything, and finally Dad said,

0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:41.520
<v Speaker 1>you know, you made that driver quit. The old man

0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:44.480
<v Speaker 1>kept shoveling and said, well, I didn't mean for him

0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:48.240
<v Speaker 1>to do that. You tell that fellow. I'm sorry, and

0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:51.080
<v Speaker 1>he can come back here anytime or better yet, I

0:14:51.240 --> 0:14:54.920
<v Speaker 1>tell him myself. A few minutes went by and he

0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:57.960
<v Speaker 1>continued saying, I don't mean to be this way, buddy.

0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:01.840
<v Speaker 1>But in nineteen forty one, I was working for John

0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:05.560
<v Speaker 1>Deere and I was making forty dollars a week. Now,

0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:07.760
<v Speaker 1>I know that don't sound like a whole lot of money,

0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:10.240
<v Speaker 1>but in nineteen forty one, that was a heck of

0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:15.080
<v Speaker 1>a wage son. Then Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. I got

0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:17.440
<v Speaker 1>drafted into the service, and I told it a ninety

0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:20.720
<v Speaker 1>pound pack from the Belgian border to the Baltic Sea

0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:23.160
<v Speaker 1>for six hundred dollars a year, and I'm still mad

0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:29.440
<v Speaker 1>about it. The list of colorful characters that I met

0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:32.720
<v Speaker 1>and grew to know was as varied as any group

0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:35.640
<v Speaker 1>of people couldn't be. They were good folks for the

0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:38.560
<v Speaker 1>most part, some better than others, the same of which

0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:40.880
<v Speaker 1>could be said for the people my dad worked with,

0:15:41.640 --> 0:15:43.600
<v Speaker 1>and I got to know lots of them over the years,

0:15:43.640 --> 0:15:46.640
<v Speaker 1>and they more or less saw me grow up. Too

0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:49.040
<v Speaker 1>many to mention, but it was. It was like one

0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:52.400
<v Speaker 1>big family, and everyone knew my dad, and most of

0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:56.560
<v Speaker 1>them called me little buddy. My dad was the strongest

0:15:56.600 --> 0:16:01.160
<v Speaker 1>person I knew, but he had one weakness. He suffered

0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:09.440
<v Speaker 1>from undiagnosed musophobia, a condition where a person shows extreme fear, panic,

0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:15.880
<v Speaker 1>and anxiety of rats and mice. A possum just ran

0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:19.360
<v Speaker 1>over my grave thinking about it now, most folks would

0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:21.800
<v Speaker 1>call out a shutter when something gives you the willies

0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:25.360
<v Speaker 1>and your body has a sudden tremor. My grandmother, Mama's

0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:28.560
<v Speaker 1>Lie said that happens when the possum runs over your grave.

0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:31.000
<v Speaker 1>I told her once when I was a kid that

0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:34.200
<v Speaker 1>I didn't have a grave, and that saying didn't make

0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:38.440
<v Speaker 1>any sense. She told me to be quiet anyway. It

0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:42.320
<v Speaker 1>was widely known that my dad had this fear. One

0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:44.520
<v Speaker 1>person thought it would be funny to play a trick

0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:47.960
<v Speaker 1>on him at the feed meal in Pine Bluff. Now,

0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:50.360
<v Speaker 1>this guy was not on my dad's Christmas card list

0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:53.520
<v Speaker 1>to begin with, and this trick would see that he

0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:57.200
<v Speaker 1>never made it on there. Now, rats are attracted to feed.

0:16:57.760 --> 0:16:59.880
<v Speaker 1>A feed meal that produces tons of feed is going

0:16:59.920 --> 0:17:02.400
<v Speaker 1>to have an issue with him. There's just no way

0:17:02.440 --> 0:17:05.880
<v Speaker 1>around it. The Pine Blood feed meal was no different.

0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:09.600
<v Speaker 1>I remember Dad let me climb up an access ladder

0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:11.920
<v Speaker 1>to the top of the building once and I looked

0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:14.359
<v Speaker 1>down at the ground behind the mill and saw several

0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:18.200
<v Speaker 1>big ones running around him, and I mean big ones.

0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:24.159
<v Speaker 1>There wasn't another possum. But Dad walked into the office

0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:26.520
<v Speaker 1>there one day to deliver some feed samples, and the

0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:30.159
<v Speaker 1>fella in question here saw him coming and had saved

0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:33.760
<v Speaker 1>a particularly large specimen they'd killed earlier that day in

0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:36.879
<v Speaker 1>the meal. The man hid behind the door of that

0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:39.320
<v Speaker 1>with that big rat in his hand, and when my

0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:41.840
<v Speaker 1>dad walked in, he just laid it up on my

0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:45.960
<v Speaker 1>dad's shoulder. Dad ran back outside through the door while

0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:49.280
<v Speaker 1>the man laughed and laughed, saying, what's your hurry, buddy.

0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:53.280
<v Speaker 1>My father looked at him and looked at him and

0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:56.720
<v Speaker 1>told him, you're gonna regret that he dropped the feed

0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:59.480
<v Speaker 1>samples in the parking lot where he stood and turned

0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:03.040
<v Speaker 1>around in the yuh. The months went by and my

0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:06.400
<v Speaker 1>dad never brought that up, never mentioned it to him,

0:18:06.680 --> 0:18:09.720
<v Speaker 1>never said anything to anyone. It was one of those

0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:14.879
<v Speaker 1>things that everyone knew about, but no one said anything about. Now.

0:18:14.960 --> 0:18:19.280
<v Speaker 1>One thing my dad wasn't scared of was snakes. Snakes

0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:21.800
<v Speaker 1>of any persuasion, it didn't matter. I've seen him catch

0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:24.560
<v Speaker 1>all kinds, from grass snakes to cotton mouse and rattlers.

0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:27.960
<v Speaker 1>As luck would have it, one day, my father was

0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:31.400
<v Speaker 1>driving to Pine Blood to deliver some feed samples when

0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:34.720
<v Speaker 1>of particularly large rat snakes crossing the road in front

0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:37.760
<v Speaker 1>of it. Now they routine to grow to six feet

0:18:37.840 --> 0:18:42.080
<v Speaker 1>in lengthd here, and this one was fully grown. How

0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:45.960
<v Speaker 1>opportunity he had him caught and stuck in a bucket

0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:49.320
<v Speaker 1>with his feed samples. In short order and continued his journey.

0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:53.880
<v Speaker 1>Walking in the office, he saw the man that had

0:18:53.960 --> 0:18:56.240
<v Speaker 1>laid the rat on his shoulders sitting at his desk

0:18:56.320 --> 0:18:59.440
<v Speaker 1>on the phone. My dad poked his head in the doorway,

0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:02.040
<v Speaker 1>and the man for him to come in and pointed

0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:05.680
<v Speaker 1>to a chair for my dad to sit in. Dad said,

0:19:05.680 --> 0:19:08.080
<v Speaker 1>he walked in his office and dumped that bucket of

0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:11.840
<v Speaker 1>port sized zip lock bags and one huge angry rat

0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:14.160
<v Speaker 1>snake in the man's lap and says, I can't stay.

0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:19.240
<v Speaker 1>I'm in a hurry, and walked out the door. Now

0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:24.280
<v Speaker 1>I look back, I look back on those times often.

0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:27.919
<v Speaker 1>They're good memories, some just as good as when we

0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:31.200
<v Speaker 1>were hunting and fishing, the common denominator being that we

0:19:31.200 --> 0:19:35.680
<v Speaker 1>were together just having fun. Now I make a concerted

0:19:35.720 --> 0:19:38.760
<v Speaker 1>effort to do the same with my children and my grandchildren,

0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:41.800
<v Speaker 1>and I really anyone I happen to be sharing a

0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:45.840
<v Speaker 1>space with the little folks. They're the ones that matter

0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:48.040
<v Speaker 1>most to me, and the ones that you and I

0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:51.159
<v Speaker 1>can make the biggest impressions on just by sharing our

0:19:51.240 --> 0:19:54.879
<v Speaker 1>time and our interest. When a kid is about to

0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:58.399
<v Speaker 1>drive you crazy, asking a million questions and going ninety

0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:02.520
<v Speaker 1>miles an hour, put your in their spot. Think about

0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:05.080
<v Speaker 1>how you wanted someone to talk to you when you

0:20:05.160 --> 0:20:08.560
<v Speaker 1>were that age, or if you can't remember back that far,

0:20:09.200 --> 0:20:10.960
<v Speaker 1>how do you want him to talk to you now?

0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:15.040
<v Speaker 1>They're going to ask someone, And if we're gonna stand

0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:17.480
<v Speaker 1>even the slightest chance of making the difference in this

0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:21.240
<v Speaker 1>entangled mess of life we find ourselves in today, we

0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:23.720
<v Speaker 1>need to be the ones to answer you and me

0:20:24.400 --> 0:20:29.080
<v Speaker 1>except to us. Mister Bob, I don't know what became

0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:32.360
<v Speaker 1>him after that summer. He sold that farm and got

0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:34.639
<v Speaker 1>out of chicken business. Dad told me later on in

0:20:34.680 --> 0:20:36.960
<v Speaker 1>life when I asked him about that story. I told

0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:40.280
<v Speaker 1>y'all at the beginning, I hope he moved to the

0:20:40.320 --> 0:20:43.399
<v Speaker 1>mountains or the beach and did whatever his passion was.

0:20:44.480 --> 0:20:48.080
<v Speaker 1>It certainly wasn't raising chickens to farming, but he proved

0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:50.960
<v Speaker 1>that he could do it, and my dad didn't do

0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:54.800
<v Speaker 1>it for him. As a parent, I'm tempted to make

0:20:54.880 --> 0:20:58.280
<v Speaker 1>things easier for my daughter Bailey by doing things for her.

0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:02.280
<v Speaker 1>That's not the way to make her better. I need

0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:05.960
<v Speaker 1>to be more like Dad than mister Bob and show

0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:08.760
<v Speaker 1>her the tools that she needs to use to be

0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:12.560
<v Speaker 1>successful and help guide her along her path, but I

0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:16.200
<v Speaker 1>can't told her. She has to take the steps herself,

0:21:16.560 --> 0:21:19.720
<v Speaker 1>watch where she's going, and whenever she needs some help,

0:21:20.280 --> 0:21:22.280
<v Speaker 1>she just needs to know that all she has to

0:21:22.320 --> 0:21:31.399
<v Speaker 1>do is turn around and they're outfits. Hey, did you

0:21:31.440 --> 0:21:34.600
<v Speaker 1>know that my friend Ryan Kyle Callahan has fired up

0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:37.920
<v Speaker 1>the Meat Eater auction House Oddities. There's some pretty sweet

0:21:37.960 --> 0:21:40.879
<v Speaker 1>items up forbid. The money rais is going to the

0:21:40.960 --> 0:21:44.560
<v Speaker 1>Land Action Initiative and support of the Corner Crossing Legal

0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:50.080
<v Speaker 1>Defense Fund. That decision will have implications on public access everywhere,

0:21:50.440 --> 0:21:53.000
<v Speaker 1>and I think it's a good cause. That's why I

0:21:53.240 --> 0:21:56.119
<v Speaker 1>and my friends at the Cash Buy You Coon Camp,

0:21:56.800 --> 0:21:59.960
<v Speaker 1>sun Spotlights, and case Knives have teamed up to offer

0:22:00.200 --> 0:22:03.920
<v Speaker 1>to the highest bidder a two night coon hunt date

0:22:04.000 --> 0:22:08.159
<v Speaker 1>to be determined with lodging at the legendary Dick with

0:22:08.440 --> 0:22:12.879
<v Speaker 1>more cash value can a case bone stag trapper, pocket knife,

0:22:13.400 --> 0:22:16.480
<v Speaker 1>and a copperhead hunting light just like the one I

0:22:16.560 --> 0:22:20.240
<v Speaker 1>wear made by my friend Michael Roseman and sun Spot

0:22:20.320 --> 0:22:22.960
<v Speaker 1>hunting lights. We're gonna feed you all day and take

0:22:23.000 --> 0:22:25.720
<v Speaker 1>you hunting all night. It's gonna be a good time,

0:22:25.920 --> 0:22:28.920
<v Speaker 1>I promise. Meet Your Live tour is about to kick

0:22:28.960 --> 0:22:30.960
<v Speaker 1>off out West, so you can check out and get

0:22:30.960 --> 0:22:34.240
<v Speaker 1>the particulars on both the auction and the live tour

0:22:34.320 --> 0:22:37.679
<v Speaker 1>at meeteater dot com. I thank y'all for listening and

0:22:37.840 --> 0:22:41.880
<v Speaker 1>until next week. This is Brent Reeve signing off. Y'all

0:22:41.880 --> 0:22:42.400
<v Speaker 1>be careful