WEBVTT - Ep. 299: This Country Life - The Helpers 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:08.640 Welcome to this country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:12.680 from coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living. 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:14.680 I want you to stay a while as I share 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:19.200 my experiences in life lessons. This Country Life is presented 0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:23.200 by Case Knives on Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:28.240 the best outdoor podcast the airwaves have to offer. All right, friends, 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:31.760 grab a chair or drop that tailgate. I've got some 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:42.640 stories to share. The helpers we get buy in this life, 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:45.199 never on our own. All of us, at one time 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:48.680 or another, need a little help, sometimes a lot of help, 0:00:49.400 --> 0:00:52.320 but help just the same. And I'm gonna talk to 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:54.800 you today about the ones that give it. But first 0:00:55.640 --> 0:01:04.120 I'm gonna tell you a story. It may have been 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:08.200 January or February, regardless of the particular month, it was cold, 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:13.080 raining and nasty outside when I was awoken from a nice, 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:17.720 warm slummer to the telephone in the middle of the night. Now, 0:01:17.800 --> 0:01:20.280 such is the life of a deputy on call in 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:24.720 a rural county for an under manned sheriff's department. You 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:27.560 were really never off, even when you were off work. 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:31.560 But sometime after midnight, you know, when the good calls 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:35.120 come in. I answered the phone, trying to be coherent 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:38.120 enough to decipher what the dispatcher was telling me from 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:43.400 the other end of the line. Brent, are you awake? Yes, 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:46.560 I usually when I answer the phone. That was my 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:49.800 normal smart elect response to being woke up in the 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:52.000 middle of the night, knowing I was fixing half to 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:55.800 go somewhere I didn't want to go, which was anywhere 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:59.920 that wasn't under the warm covers where I was currently busy. 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:04.240 She said, I'm waking another deputy. There's a burglar in 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:09.519 progress at the old Simpson Place. Burglary in progress. That 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:12.760 got my attention, But I immediately knew that the old 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:16.760 Simpson Place was vacant. The Uttererly couple that lived there 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:19.960 forever were both deceased, and there wasn't an alarm system 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:24.320 there that I knew of. Actually, there weren't alarm systems 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:27.680 at all at any of the rural businesses that dotted 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:31.480 the county, much less of residence, especially one that no 0:02:31.560 --> 0:02:37.399 one lived at during that time. Someone called it in. Yes, 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:40.079 they drove by there just now and saw a flashlight 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:42.600 of someone walking in front of the big picture window 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:45.440 that faces the road. I have them on the other 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:49.760 line call the Simpson Sun and make sure no one 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:51.760 is supposed to be there. Tell them we're on their 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:54.600 way and to stay by the phone. I'm getting dressed, 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:57.280 And with that, I hung up the phone and jumped 0:02:57.280 --> 0:03:00.120 in the uniform coveralls that was staged in the living room, 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:03.320 along with my gun, belt, radio and boots, just for 0:03:03.440 --> 0:03:07.040 such as an occasion as this. Now, in less than 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:09.280 five minutes, I was pulling up to the Sheriff's office, 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:11.480 where I would jump into the car with another deputy, 0:03:11.520 --> 0:03:14.200 and the two of us would paint the road red 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:17.600 to the address of the complaint, knowing full well that 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:20.200 no one would be there when we got there. That's 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:25.040 the way it always was. They were never there. Our 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:28.519 response time was fast, considering what all had to transpire 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:31.360 before we actually got to the address of the call, 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:36.600 but still never fast enough to catch anyone on the scene. 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:40.280 Someone had to see something to report, get to a phone, 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:42.520 like a real phone that was connected to a house 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:45.680 and call it in. There weren't no cell phones. Describe 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:48.160 what was happening to the dispatcher, who then had to 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:51.800 figure out where they were talking about. And if Noah 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:54.320 had informed the dispatcher who was on a call, they 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:57.480 had to call the sheriff see who he wanted to send. 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:00.240 Then they had to call and wake up with the 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:04.040 deputy and explain everything all over again. It took a while, 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:07.080 and by the time all that happened, even if it 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:11.040 was legitimate burglary and not a false alarm or someone 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:14.760 out hunting or checking on livestock, the bad guy would 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:21.000 always be gone. Rolling up on an actual burglary in 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:25.159 progress is the super Bowl of patrol calls. What better 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:28.760 way to catch a burglar than red handed surprise, JOCKO, 0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:31.640 better drop me my silverware and reach for the sky 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:33.640 if you don't want to leave here with more holes 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:37.640 in your person than you showed up with. Now, I 0:04:37.640 --> 0:04:39.920 imagine saying something like that, And there may have been 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:43.200 a few more colorful metaphors thrown into spice it up, 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:46.560 but you get the idea. But in all the burglary 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:49.040 in progress calls I got dispatched too in the middle 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:51.440 of the night, most of them turned out to either 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:55.119 be a false alarm or the perpetrators were long gone 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:58.640 when we got there. It was the nature of the beast. 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:01.960 This one would more than likely be the same, but 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:04.680 we had to respond to it like we knew they 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:08.599 were there and we were going to catch them. The 0:05:08.720 --> 0:05:11.640 rain was getting harder, and the temperature was just north 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:14.320 of freezing according to the bank thermometer, that we just 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:16.919 blew by going faster than we probably should have. In 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:20.160 those conditions, there was no need for the sirre in 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:22.919 the blue lights. There wasn't anyone else out except for 0:05:23.040 --> 0:05:26.280 us and the burglar, who if what was reported was true, 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:29.960 was another fifteen minutes away at a country home that 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:33.320 sat two hundred yards off of gravel road that no 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:37.679 one had been to in weeks. The rain had slacked 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:39.920 up enough that when we got close to the driveway, 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:42.880 the deputy that was driving turned off the headlights and 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:45.159 we stuck our heads out the windows and watched the 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:48.400 house and both ditches as he turned in, and we 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:51.440 creeped up the long drive in the dark, stopping a 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:56.120 short distance from the house. The interior was dark as 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:58.559 a tomb except for the globe, a single light bulb 0:05:58.880 --> 0:06:01.400 that I could see through picture window. Towards the back 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:04.279 of the house, the rain picked it back up along 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:06.960 with the wind. It was cold and miserable outside, but 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:10.320 it was masking our approach to the house. We slipped 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:12.960 in through a cracked door that led from the car 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:17.240 port into a utility room. There were muddy footprints stacked 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:19.600 on top of one another on the car port steps 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:23.720 and in tior some weren't dry, that led back and 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:27.120 forth to the rest of the house. My spidery sin 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:33.159 started tingling. Someone may be there now, but someone had 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:37.800 been very recently. The floor creaked with every step we 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:39.680 made through the kitchen towards the rear of the house, 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:43.240 where the light was shining. Guns drawn, I prayed the 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:45.880 wind and the rain wouldn't let whoever was in there. 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:49.599 If they were in there hear us coming, and I 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:52.160 peeked around the corner of the door that led from 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:54.280 the kitchen into the living room, and that's when I 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:58.240 saw there was no floor. The floor joists were exposed, 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:01.880 and all the floor and had been removed. Every room 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:04.560 that I could see from where I stood had no floor. 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:08.080 The single light bulble was from a lamp with no 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:11.440 shade that was laying across two spans of floor joists. 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:14.160 We cleared the rest of the house, there was no 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:18.440 one in there. Burglary in progress had once again turned 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:23.760 into a burglary after the fat call, But where'd the 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:26.440 barefooted guy go, the one that made all the tracks 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:29.280 that were still fresh on the steps of the utility room. 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:32.720 We had passed any vehicles on our way there, they 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:36.320 had to be close. No one was walking. I looked 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:38.120 behind the house and grown up in the trees and 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:41.880 bushes was an old barn, a hallway that went down 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:44.040 the center of the structure, as dark as a cave. 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:48.840 There are probably law enforcement folks listening to this right now, thinking, well, 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:50.920 you need to call some backup before you head out 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:53.960 of that barn, and they'd be right, that's exactly what 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:58.640 you do. However, there was no backup. Had it not 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:01.280 been for the foresight and this of the dispatcher, one 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:04.120 of us would have been there alone. It's just the 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:06.080 way it used to be and how we were used 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:09.160 to working as the same wind that was made famous 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:12.160 by Texas Ranger Captain Bill McDonald back in the early 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:18.800 nineteen hundreds. One riot, one ranger. But thankfully there were 0:08:18.840 --> 0:08:20.800 two of us, and we hit the hall of that barn. 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:23.440 We turned on our flashlights and cleared all the stalls 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:28.080 in both rooms. There was nothing there. The only place 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:32.080 left to search was the hayloft back near the entrance 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:33.760 was the ladder that went up the hole in the 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:37.840 loft floor. It was nearly a carving copy of every 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:40.760 old barn laft ladder that I'd ever seen or climbed. 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:44.240 The old barn on our farm was almost the exact same, 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:47.520 except the ladder was at the opposite end of the hallway. 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:51.440 As you approached the barn, there was mud on the rungs, 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:53.400 and when I put my hands on it to climb up, 0:08:53.760 --> 0:08:57.839 some of it squished up between my fingers. I turned 0:08:57.880 --> 0:08:59.959 off and put away my flashlight, and I sent it 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:02.440 up the ladder with one hand while I held my 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:06.600 pistol in my right hand. I dug down as I climbed, 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:09.080 stand below the opening of the floor, even though I 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:11.600 could have easily stood up on the middle rung and 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:16.520 sing clearly into the barn loft. Placing both heels of 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:18.680 my boots on the same rung, I stood up with 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:21.040 my pistol in one hand and the light and the 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:24.600 other head and shoulders above the opening. In one fluid movement, 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:27.520 I leaned forward with my chest against the floor of 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:31.080 the loft, pointed my pistol, and turned on the flashlight 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:34.480 at the same time. Less than a foot from my 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:38.360 face was the business end of a shotgun that was 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:46.920 pointed directly between my eyes. The rest all happened in 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:50.920 slow motion. I could no longer hear the rain, I 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:54.280 didn't feel the cold. The whole world was like my lasses. 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:57.760 But I was thinking and reacting two moves ahead of 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:01.400 everything else that was going on around me. Instantly, I 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.520 shifted to one side, laid my flashlight on the floor, 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:08.280 still shining in the same direction, placed my finger on 0:10:08.280 --> 0:10:11.160 the trigger of my duty weapon, aimed at the man's head, 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:13.600 and I pulled that shot gun down and handed it 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:16.920 to the deputy below me. Now, in the time it 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:19.319 took me to tell you that I could have done 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:23.560 what I did ten times, that's how fast it happened. 0:10:23.559 --> 0:10:27.640 That's not something you practice. That's a blessing you received 0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:31.840 when it ain't your time to go. I could plainly 0:10:31.880 --> 0:10:34.040 see the top of the man's head, his shoulders, and 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:37.800 his arms laying alongside where the shotgun had been. It 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:44.080 had fallen asleep, sound asleep. Had he been waiting to 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:46.600 ambush us and just went to sleep. I don't know. 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:50.920 I never will know. The man was off his meds 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:53.559 and had been in and out of mental facilities the 0:10:53.559 --> 0:10:58.120 majority this adult life. This would get him sent back 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:01.600 to one eventually, after he'd been a judicated for burglarizing 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:04.760 the old Simpson place and removing all the floor, he 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:07.080 taken it and stacked it up on the other side 0:11:07.080 --> 0:11:10.160 of the barn. Now, one curious thing that made me 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:12.640 scratch my head and thankful that I still had one 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:15.839 after staring down the barrel of that shotgun was the 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:19.199 coon hide that he had wrapped around the stock tail 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:22.480 and all. He said in his statement that he shot 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:24.320 that coon when he was tearing up the floor, and 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:27.960 apparently the coon had taken up residents under the house 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:32.280 before he got there. Anyway, he shot the coon, cooked 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:35.640 and ate him, and adored his hide on his shotgun 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:38.440 as a trophy, which would have made getting clobbered with 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:41.120 that shotgun just a little bit worse for me anyway, 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:45.080 if there could have been such a thing. But what 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:49.040 wound up happening was he got help. He didn't know 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:52.840 he needed any, but he did. I counted as a 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:54.960 blessing to have been the one he nearly scared to 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:58.120 death with that shotgun. I'm proud of the way it 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:00.400 turned out. I'm thankful that the good Lord, let me 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:03.200 see the situation clearly enough that I didn't react in 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:06.320 a way that I would have been justified in doing so. 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:10.440 It made me value my life and my opportunities to 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:16.400 help others that much more. That guy needed help. I 0:12:16.520 --> 0:12:19.760 needed to see that he got it, and he did. 0:12:21.280 --> 0:12:35.200 And that's just how that happened. Being a helper. That 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:39.080 term I learned from mister Rogers. Yes, that mister Rogers, 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.520 the one who sang about being a good neighbor and 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:46.160 showed generations how easy it was to be one. But 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:48.800 his quote about being a helper was explaining to the 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:51.360 little folks and adults like me who were watching with 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:54.840 them that any time he saw something scary on the 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:58.120 news as a child, that his mother told him to 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:02.280 look for the helpers, but there was always someone going 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:05.520 to help those in trouble. He said. It was reassuring 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:08.320 and it made him feel better knowing that there was 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:13.680 always someone who was willing to help, And just like always, 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:18.360 mister Rogers was right. I spent my whole career trying 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:20.080 to help folks, and so did a lot of other 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:23.120 people right along with me. But that's not the people 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:26.920 I'm talking about now. I'm talking about the helpers who, 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:32.040 regardless of the situation someone is in, step up and 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:35.520 be a helper. I saw it firsthand. Over the course 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:39.120 of the last few weeks, two events were well publicized 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:43.640 as tragedies. A local Arkansas duck hunter was severely injured 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:46.400 in a boating accident there where I and a group 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:49.280 of my friends and colleagues had been filming for a 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:54.040 future First Life production. Then a horrific plane crash in Washington, 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:57.400 d C. That counted among its many victims a group 0:13:57.440 --> 0:14:01.920 of hunters that had hunted with friends of mine Kansas Place. 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:04.200 A lot of us at meat eater At hunted this year. 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:08.920 Whole nation in an outdoor community rallied around each other 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:12.280 in prayer and raising money to support not only our 0:14:12.320 --> 0:14:15.840 fellow sportion but their families as well. Through both of 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:21.480 those events, we are giving people, and when called upon 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:24.920 in times of darkness, the helpers bring light to the 0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:29.800 shadows of sadness and despair. We have no ability to 0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:32.480 erase the pain or bring back those that have been lost, 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:35.840 but we each have a way of helping through given 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:40.680 whether it's prayer, labor, or donations, it shows we care 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:43.160 and we'll share as much of the burden as we 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:48.040 can to allow those who can to recover or those 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:53.280 who can't to grieve. And then there's the other helpers, 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:56.640 the ones who step forward unprovoked by dire circumstances, the 0:14:56.680 --> 0:15:00.000 helpers who, through the goodness of doing what's right, is 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:05.120 their only motivation. I met him almost five years ago. 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:07.880 He was a local fireman who had to supplement his 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:12.080 income by working his days off mowing yards. That told 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:15.680 me something about him right from the start. He served 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:19.040 his community in a noble and dangerous career, and his 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:23.520 compensation required augmentation for him to live comfortably, and yet 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:27.520 he still served. I would later find out he served 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:31.840 his nation too, although he never talks about it. I 0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:34.120 invited him to give me an estimate on mowing, and 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:37.960 after meeting me, we talked about coon hunting. After he 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:42.240 saw whaling. I had been in the podcast Renner for 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:44.840 a while, and after watching my tree and walker run around, 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:48.720 he blurted it out, is that whaling? I smiled and 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:52.160 said yes. He said, I've seen that dog on Facebook. 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:59.600 Who are you? Just when I thought I'd gotten famous, 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:03.160 the fireman and old whaler put my feet squarely back 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:07.160 on terra FIRMA first time he mowed our yard. I 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:10.040 hid behind the fence and sprayed water on him like 0:16:10.120 --> 0:16:12.600 he was raining when he was making laps in the 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:15.880 front yard jungle. The look on his face when he 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:17.960 stood up and saw me laughing over the fence with 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:20.880 that water hose my hand is one I'll never forget. 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:24.960 And over the last five years we've hunted a lot together, 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:29.520 Hunter Gullick and me. He moved on from the fire 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:33.600 department and now serves our community as alignment whose main 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:36.880 task is keeping the lights on his mind, and everyone 0:16:36.920 --> 0:16:43.280 else is home around us. So far, so good. Now 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:46.000 I'm switching gears here, so hang with me. You're gonna 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:50.120 be glad you did. But over the past few months, 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:53.280 my wife has been getting Bailey's haircut by a lady 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:56.440 in town who cuts a lot of our friends and kids' hair. 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:00.120 She and her husband both worked hard to support with 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:05.280 their family, a family made up of eight children, two 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:10.199 of which mom and dad share their DNA, six of 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:14.960 them just share mom and Dad's love. Mom and Dad 0:17:15.240 --> 0:17:20.840 are helpers, the best kind of helpers, and of all 0:17:20.880 --> 0:17:24.800 the members of this octetive kids, one has shown a 0:17:24.880 --> 0:17:31.720 keen interest in coon hunting six year old Atticus, Alexis 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:35.320 and Bailey would return from visits to the salon where Atticus' 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:38.679 mom works with tales of how he loves everything about 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:42.840 coon hunting and coon dogs. Atticus and his dad listened 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:45.679 to your podcast and watch your videos. Alexis told me, 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:50.399 that's cool. Please tell them. I said, thank you, and 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:54.439 these reports from Attiges mom were a regular highlight whenever 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:58.600 Alexis was there. They have a Pomeranian that Atticus calls 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:02.359 his coon dog, so the next time she went, I 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:04.399 sent him a sign to case hat and a wooden 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:07.040 knife kit that Atticus and his dad could put together. 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:11.560 Shortly afterwards, I saw a video of him on social 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:15.720 media wearing that hat, holding that wooden knife kit, and 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:19.439 watching Steven Ellen and Claybow skinning a coon on TV. 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:24.320 Because Mama told Alexis how, Atticus was at school working 0:18:24.359 --> 0:18:26.600 with his teacher on writing his letters when out of 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:29.240 the blue, he asked her if she had a dog, 0:18:30.320 --> 0:18:33.200 and when his teacher said yes, she did, Atticus replied, 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:38.760 I can teach that dog how to trea a coon now, 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:42.240 Much to his teacher's delight, she said that's good to know. 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:46.360 But first he had to continue working on his jas. 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:51.080 Atticus could have been me, and at one time I 0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:55.080 was Atticus. The only difference is I've never asked of 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:58.240 Pomeranian to tree a coon for me, although I've hunted 0:18:58.280 --> 0:19:00.760 with some dogs that couldn't have been any worse than one. 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:04.040 But what does all this have to do with being 0:19:04.080 --> 0:19:10.600 a helper? Once again, I'm glad you asked Hunter? Remember 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:13.359 him well? He and I were grabbing some supper last 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:16.679 week before going coon hunting. Alexis and Bailey met us 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:19.119 at our favorite burger joint, and we laughed and talked 0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:22.679 about everything under the sun, including the young dog of 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:25.320 hunters that he and I would be taken that night 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:28.480 with whaling. But out of know where, Hunter made the 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:32.119 statement that he had won too many coon houns and 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:36.440 needed to find a home for John. John's a tree 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:38.400 and walker and a litter made to a good friend 0:19:38.400 --> 0:19:42.040 of Mine's dog that is second to none. Life Honey 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:44.320 with John on many occasions, and he'll run and tree 0:19:44.320 --> 0:19:47.680 a coon. Nothing fancy, never going to be a world champion. 0:19:47.760 --> 0:19:49.880 But if you had to survive on coons to eat, 0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:54.919 John wouldn't let you starve. Hunter said, I'd really like 0:19:55.000 --> 0:19:57.760 to see him go to a kid. He'd be perfect 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:00.760 for a kid. He's gentle, he minds what, and he 0:20:00.800 --> 0:20:03.280 would fit a kid that wanted to get started into 0:20:03.359 --> 0:20:06.680 hunting or needed a dog, you know, anybody that might 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:10.439 want it. No, I don't guess. And with that I 0:20:10.520 --> 0:20:13.560 focused back on my cheeseburger and whatever the conversation was 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:17.720 that Hunter had continued after announcing he wanted to rehome John. 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:23.600 Finally I processed it all and I said, wait a minute, Alexis, 0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:29.880 text Atticus's mama and see if they'd let him have John. Now. 0:20:29.920 --> 0:20:34.240 Two days after we had supper, Hunter, Atticus, and John 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:38.800 all became friends. Posted a picture on my social media 0:20:38.840 --> 0:20:42.119 about getting Atticus a tracking collar and a handheld, and 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:45.080 the outpouring of folks who wanted to help was immediate 0:20:45.680 --> 0:20:50.080 and a little overwhelming. Both of those items are quite expensive, 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:57.320 especially to a family who's income is already prioritized. Pictures 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:01.720 I've seen of Atticus and John since testament of helpers 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:07.359 being helpers, People who saw an opportunity and to full 0:21:07.400 --> 0:21:11.840 advantage to help sponsor something wholesome and good. What could 0:21:11.880 --> 0:21:16.840 be better than a little boy named Atticus's Coonham, John, 0:21:23.359 --> 0:21:25.199 thank you so much for listening all of us here 0:21:25.200 --> 0:21:29.719 at the Beargrease Channel. Be a helper with good intent. 0:21:30.720 --> 0:21:34.480 Little can go a long way to be seeing more 0:21:34.560 --> 0:21:38.600 of Atticus and John right here. But until next week, 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:52.080 this is Brent Reeves signing off. Y'all, be careful, don't forget. 0:21:52.200 --> 0:21:54.800 March the first is the Black Bear Bonanza at the 0:21:54.800 --> 0:21:59.600 Benton County Fairgrounds, Arkansas. BHA has all the info you 0:21:59.640 --> 0:22:03.920 can just google Black Bear Bonanza twenty twenty five. Come 0:22:03.960 --> 0:22:04.640 see us