1
00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:06,920
Speaker 1: Welcome to this country Life.

2
00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:10,520
Speaker 2: I'm your host, Brent Reeves from coon hunting to trot

3
00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:12,559
Speaker 2: lining and just in general country living.

4
00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:13,560
Speaker 1: I want you to stay a.

5
00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:17,560
Speaker 2: While as I share my experiences in life lessons. This

6
00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:21,520
Speaker 2: Country Life is presented by Case Knives from the store

7
00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:25,640
Speaker 2: More Studio on Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you the

8
00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:27,280
Speaker 2: best outdoor podcast that.

9
00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:31,319
Speaker 3: Airways have to offer. All right, friends, grab a chair

10
00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:34,640
Speaker 3: or drop that tailgate. I've got some stores to share

11
00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:44,239
Speaker 3: the things that make me happy from the moment I.

12
00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:46,800
Speaker 2: Wake up in the morning and realize that I'm still

13
00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:49,839
Speaker 2: amongst the living, I'm as happy as I'm gonna be

14
00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:53,960
Speaker 2: all day. Don't interpret it that is it all being

15
00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:58,080
Speaker 2: downhill from there. I don't mean that at all. I

16
00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:03,040
Speaker 2: love living and being just about anywhere I am. I

17
00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:05,640
Speaker 2: live by the advice my father gave me when I

18
00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:08,560
Speaker 2: was a little boy that I've shared on here numerous times,

19
00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:13,280
Speaker 2: and that is, there's no place that you can't have fun.

20
00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:16,720
Speaker 2: If you're in a place that ain't fun, you make

21
00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:20,160
Speaker 2: it fun. Today, I'm going to highlight the things that

22
00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:23,760
Speaker 2: make me happy. It's a simple and short list that

23
00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:27,280
Speaker 2: probably ain't going to shock anyone regardless. I'm gonna tell

24
00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:30,800
Speaker 2: you all about it, but first, I'm going to tell

25
00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:32,959
Speaker 2: you this story.

26
00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:39,480
Speaker 1: Today's offering.

27
00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:44,160
Speaker 2: Chris crosses this great nation of ours from Arkansas to California,

28
00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:50,120
Speaker 2: back to Arkansas, back to California, and eventually to North Carolina.

29
00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:54,880
Speaker 2: That's where native California and Zach Brady lives with his

30
00:01:54,960 --> 00:02:01,440
Speaker 2: wife Holly and their children, Jack, Hattie and Clay. Zach

31
00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:03,880
Speaker 2: works for the city of Charlotte and helps keep the

32
00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:08,240
Speaker 2: water running every time someone turns on a faucet. He's

33
00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:11,000
Speaker 2: on the admin's side of things there. But in this story,

34
00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:15,680
Speaker 2: Zach and his family were vacationing with their grandpa, who'd

35
00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:20,560
Speaker 2: moved to California from Blackrock, Arkansas when he was sixteen.

36
00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:26,160
Speaker 2: Now William Mashburn, grandpa in this story, is taking the

37
00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:29,680
Speaker 2: family back to Blackrock to see the old homestead and

38
00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:34,920
Speaker 2: visit with family and friends. So, in Zach's words, in

39
00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:41,320
Speaker 2: my voice, here we go. My grandfather has always been

40
00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:45,440
Speaker 2: a hard man. He's a kind of man who doesn't

41
00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:49,880
Speaker 2: say much but is fiercely loyal. It's also the kind

42
00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:52,000
Speaker 2: of man that you probably don't want to work for.

43
00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:55,360
Speaker 2: I like to describe him to his friends as a

44
00:02:55,840 --> 00:03:00,880
Speaker 2: five foot four version of John Wayne his own trucking

45
00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:04,760
Speaker 2: business in the California oil fields for thirty six years,

46
00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:08,600
Speaker 2: and there was only one way to complete any task,

47
00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:13,160
Speaker 2: William's way. If you ran into an issue with a

48
00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:15,400
Speaker 2: truck and called over the radio for help, he would

49
00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:18,119
Speaker 2: respond telling you exactly how it should be done.

50
00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:21,760
Speaker 1: If you dare to argue to question.

51
00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:24,720
Speaker 2: Him, he would hop in his old red forward and

52
00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:28,120
Speaker 2: drive across the county to cheer you out and fire you,

53
00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:34,280
Speaker 2: and then finished the job himself. The grace in it

54
00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:37,040
Speaker 2: was that he would never do this over the radio.

55
00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,480
Speaker 2: He would save you the embarrassment of the other drivers

56
00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:44,840
Speaker 2: listening to you verbally getting bent over his knee. And

57
00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,320
Speaker 2: that's the kind of man he was. That work ethic

58
00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:53,560
Speaker 2: and drives come from his raisin in northeast Arkansas on

59
00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:58,040
Speaker 2: the Black River. He is the oldest of seven kids

60
00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:00,920
Speaker 2: and dropped out of school in the grade to take

61
00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:05,360
Speaker 2: care of his family. He would work odd jobs, hunt

62
00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:09,480
Speaker 2: and fish to provide for his parents and his siblings.

63
00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:12,680
Speaker 2: His first job was to go fishing and then to

64
00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:16,360
Speaker 2: sell that day's catch out of his cooler for higher

65
00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:20,520
Speaker 2: than the market price. Every morning and evening he would

66
00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:24,320
Speaker 2: be running trot lines for catfish and nets for buffalo.

67
00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:28,080
Speaker 2: He has always enjoyed hunting, but fishing was his passion.

68
00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:31,320
Speaker 2: He was always in a better mood with a rod

69
00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:33,200
Speaker 2: and reel in his hand, and the only thing that

70
00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:37,159
Speaker 2: magnified that mood even more was taking one of his

71
00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:41,599
Speaker 2: grandkids with him, even when he was older and infeeble health.

72
00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,320
Speaker 2: He had rigged up his john boat to be able

73
00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:48,640
Speaker 2: to plug in his portable oxygen machine. He also installed

74
00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:52,320
Speaker 2: two anchors attached two inches to the bow and the

75
00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:55,400
Speaker 2: stern so he could sit in one spot and catch

76
00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:58,880
Speaker 2: catfish so he didn't have to struggle to move. He's

77
00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,800
Speaker 2: the one who talked our brothers, cousins, and I how

78
00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:06,719
Speaker 2: to catch perch. One of my favorite pictures is of

79
00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:11,240
Speaker 2: my brother and I five seven years old, respectfully clad

80
00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:14,720
Speaker 2: and overalls, with a couple of strangers of perch, standing

81
00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:18,600
Speaker 2: with Grandpa. We were back in Arkansas on a family

82
00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:23,000
Speaker 2: vacation and he wanted to take us fishing. Driving down

83
00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:25,680
Speaker 2: a country road, we crossed a creek and he pulled over.

84
00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,880
Speaker 2: This should be the spot, he said, reaching back in

85
00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,279
Speaker 2: his memory to a time when he was around our age.

86
00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:36,400
Speaker 2: We got out and we stood on the side of

87
00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:38,919
Speaker 2: the road as he rigged up our poles. Mine was

88
00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:43,159
Speaker 2: red and my brother's yelling. We couldn't help but argue

89
00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:46,719
Speaker 2: over who would catch the first, the largest, and the

90
00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:51,800
Speaker 2: most fish. My younger brother, Brett won out handily. He

91
00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:56,760
Speaker 2: has always been the better fisherman. That morning, we stood

92
00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:59,480
Speaker 2: over this creek and fished until we ran out of worms.

93
00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:02,960
Speaker 2: The perch were biting so quickly that Grandpa never even

94
00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,880
Speaker 2: put a line in the water. He was too busy

95
00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,599
Speaker 2: taking off fish and rebaiting our life.

96
00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:10,760
Speaker 1: When we ran out.

97
00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:13,479
Speaker 2: Of bait, we contended to drop empty hooks into the

98
00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:15,400
Speaker 2: water and caught a few more fish to add to

99
00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:18,360
Speaker 2: our stringer. It was one of those days that you

100
00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:23,200
Speaker 2: dream of but could never see actually happened. It is

101
00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:28,400
Speaker 2: a day I will never forget. We finished fishing and

102
00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:31,360
Speaker 2: loaded up the old ford. We drove back to the

103
00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:34,920
Speaker 2: house That afternoon. He showed us how to clean a fish,

104
00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,760
Speaker 2: using a teaspoon from the kitchen drawer to de scale

105
00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:41,880
Speaker 2: the perch, much to my grandmother's delight. Then we cut

106
00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:45,400
Speaker 2: up our day's catch for the frying pan. I don't

107
00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:47,960
Speaker 2: know what happened to that spoon, but I hope it

108
00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,359
Speaker 2: was cleaned before it was put on the table. Those

109
00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:54,000
Speaker 2: were the kinds of things that never seemed to cross

110
00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:58,120
Speaker 2: Grandpa's mind. That night, we ate our field with our family,

111
00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:04,600
Speaker 2: and we dreamt of the next with Grandpa. And according

112
00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:09,000
Speaker 2: to Zach Brady Button will of California native who's keeping

113
00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:11,360
Speaker 2: the water running on the right hand coast of the

114
00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:16,320
Speaker 2: US of A, that's just how that happened. Zach sent

115
00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:18,840
Speaker 2: this simple story about a day of fishing with his

116
00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:23,160
Speaker 2: brother and his grandpa, along with an accompanying photograph that

117
00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:27,360
Speaker 2: captured an image of that day from many years ago.

118
00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:31,679
Speaker 2: It is only a glimpse, a snapshot of a memory,

119
00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:35,520
Speaker 2: from a story that has traveled from coast to coast

120
00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:42,440
Speaker 2: and now literally around the world. This simple message of

121
00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:45,920
Speaker 2: spending time with family will bring joy and happiness to

122
00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:51,240
Speaker 2: more people than me Zach, his brother Brett, or her

123
00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:57,280
Speaker 2: late grandfather, mister William Mashburn will ever know, and knowing

124
00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:00,120
Speaker 2: that should make us all happy.

125
00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:01,520
Speaker 1: Thanks Sach.

126
00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:12,680
Speaker 2: The conversation about a year ago, maybe longer, I don't know.

127
00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:16,560
Speaker 2: Between my brother Tim and I bowled down to the

128
00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:20,280
Speaker 2: things that make us happy. We talk plenty about the

129
00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:23,960
Speaker 2: things that make us mad, a category that gets bigger

130
00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:26,400
Speaker 2: with each passing day, and since we talk every day,

131
00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:30,400
Speaker 2: if not multiple times during the day, our grievances get

132
00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:34,200
Speaker 2: plenty of air. And that caused me to pause and

133
00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:37,800
Speaker 2: reflect on the things that upset me or cause me aggravation,

134
00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,680
Speaker 2: realizing that they're all things that I have zero control over.

135
00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:46,679
Speaker 2: It was the reason I stopped watching the news. Why

136
00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:51,160
Speaker 2: would I subject myself voluntarily to a stream of articles

137
00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:54,560
Speaker 2: and stories that focus only on the worst things that

138
00:08:54,679 --> 00:08:59,920
Speaker 2: happen every day. Someone said, and it wasn't Mark Twain,

139
00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,840
Speaker 2: by the way, that if you don't read the paper,

140
00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:07,400
Speaker 2: you're uninformed, and if you do, you're misinformed. Now you

141
00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:10,679
Speaker 2: take out paper and drop in any form of information

142
00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:13,920
Speaker 2: sharing source, and I will argue that that's all so correct,

143
00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,120
Speaker 2: But I don't want to argue, so don't send me

144
00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:22,240
Speaker 2: anything to the contrary. I spent thirty two years arguing

145
00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,240
Speaker 2: with folks, mostly about whether or not they were going

146
00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:28,440
Speaker 2: to jail, and I don't recall a single time I

147
00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,480
Speaker 2: lost one of those arguments.

148
00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:33,240
Speaker 1: I remember being.

149
00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:35,240
Speaker 2: Touch and go a few times on exactly how I

150
00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:38,880
Speaker 2: was going to prove my point. Anyway, what I focus

151
00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:42,000
Speaker 2: on now are the things that make me happy and

152
00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:46,080
Speaker 2: ever since I did, my life got a whole lot easier.

153
00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:51,199
Speaker 2: That's a throwback to a frustrating time of my life

154
00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:56,200
Speaker 2: when I was surrounded by inept and unqualified persons. Their

155
00:09:56,240 --> 00:10:00,160
Speaker 2: appointments and positions had nothing to do with ability, a

156
00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:06,320
Speaker 2: world where ability should have been the first qualification. I

157
00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:08,680
Speaker 2: got through that by treading water, so to speak, and

158
00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:12,120
Speaker 2: eventually deciding to do my dead level best while I

159
00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:15,760
Speaker 2: was there and not use my contempt as a vessel

160
00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:20,600
Speaker 2: or self pity for poor performance. Once I framed my

161
00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:23,760
Speaker 2: mind around the realization that the only person who really

162
00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:27,400
Speaker 2: controlled how I felt about anything was me, the rest

163
00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:28,280
Speaker 2: got a.

164
00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:28,959
Speaker 1: Whole lot better.

165
00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:33,760
Speaker 2: Alexis and I also have a hard and fast rule

166
00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:37,880
Speaker 2: that we've lived by for many years now. We don't

167
00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:42,040
Speaker 2: talk about work after six pm. Up to that time,

168
00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:45,320
Speaker 2: anything goes just let her rip. But when the big

169
00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:47,319
Speaker 2: hand is on the twelve and the little one is

170
00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:51,920
Speaker 2: on the six, that's all she wrote about work until tomorrow.

171
00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:53,840
Speaker 1: What that did was.

172
00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:56,920
Speaker 2: Allow us to shift our focus from negativity to things

173
00:10:56,920 --> 00:10:58,320
Speaker 2: we enjoyed talking about.

174
00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:00,600
Speaker 1: Now, over the last.

175
00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:02,960
Speaker 2: Million and a half years or so that we've been married,

176
00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:07,200
Speaker 2: that's what we do. We address the issue had on

177
00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:10,280
Speaker 2: deal with it as best we can, control what we

178
00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,000
Speaker 2: can and leave the rest up to the Good Lord

179
00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:16,839
Speaker 2: to sort out for us. It's not easy, and I'm

180
00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:19,760
Speaker 2: not saying we're walking around in utopia over here, because

181
00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:23,560
Speaker 2: there's sometimes I wonder what planet she is from. I

182
00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:26,360
Speaker 2: seriously doubt she ever questions anything I say or do,

183
00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:30,400
Speaker 2: But who knows. What I'm saying is that it only

184
00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:31,439
Speaker 2: takes a little.

185
00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:33,280
Speaker 1: Effort to make a big difference.

186
00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:37,719
Speaker 2: By prioritizing the things in my life that are important,

187
00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:40,880
Speaker 2: the things that make me happy seem to fall into place.

188
00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:46,080
Speaker 2: First and foremost is my faith. I have leaned more

189
00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:48,560
Speaker 2: and more into what that means to me as I've

190
00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:51,920
Speaker 2: gotten older. That's something that I worked out on my own,

191
00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:56,480
Speaker 2: with Alexus's help through conversation and just watching her live life.

192
00:11:56,520 --> 00:12:00,199
Speaker 2: She's a shining example of how to treat people, regardless

193
00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:03,720
Speaker 2: of her home planet. I say all of that to

194
00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:06,240
Speaker 2: start my list of things that makes me happy. My

195
00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:09,679
Speaker 2: faith is the cornerstone. I'm not a preacher, and I'm

196
00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:11,920
Speaker 2: not one that will stand anywhere and say I've got

197
00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:15,000
Speaker 2: it all figured out, but I'll say this, once I've

198
00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:19,640
Speaker 2: prioritized my relationship with my maker. The rest took care

199
00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:27,880
Speaker 2: of itself. From there, it's my family. Family to me

200
00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:30,840
Speaker 2: is a whole bunch of folks that share my DNA

201
00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,920
Speaker 2: and a whole bunch of folks that don't. I live

202
00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:38,080
Speaker 2: in the same zip code of very few humans who

203
00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:40,240
Speaker 2: if asked under oaths if they were related to me,

204
00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:43,880
Speaker 2: that they would have to answer yes. But I'm surrounded

205
00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:45,720
Speaker 2: by more of them than you could fit in a

206
00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:49,720
Speaker 2: school bus that I would take a bullet for. Their

207
00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:54,480
Speaker 2: kids are my kids, Their celebrations are my celebrations. Their

208
00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:58,800
Speaker 2: troubles are my troubles, and those feelings are reciprocated. So

209
00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:02,840
Speaker 2: taking that into account, if my family is happy, I'm happy.

210
00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:04,120
Speaker 1: Now.

211
00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:07,080
Speaker 2: With that comes a heritage and the legacy of my raising,

212
00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:09,440
Speaker 2: my identity of who I am and how I got

213
00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:13,360
Speaker 2: to this place in my life. The list of influences

214
00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:16,080
Speaker 2: is long and distinguished as how I got to where

215
00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:18,600
Speaker 2: I am today, and I got here with as many

216
00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:22,360
Speaker 2: bad decisions over the course of my journey as good ones.

217
00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:27,040
Speaker 2: But there was always someone who had my best interest

218
00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:29,880
Speaker 2: at heart. When I had reached the seemingly end of

219
00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:33,480
Speaker 2: my rope or had painted myself into a corner, and

220
00:13:33,559 --> 00:13:37,040
Speaker 2: I would call my dad and say I've made a

221
00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:42,079
Speaker 2: mess and I don't know what to do. And to

222
00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,439
Speaker 2: his credit, he never told me what to do. He'd say, now,

223
00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:47,959
Speaker 2: you do it any way you want to. But if

224
00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:52,880
Speaker 2: it was me, I'd do this regardless if I followed

225
00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:55,520
Speaker 2: his advice or not. He never held that against me

226
00:13:55,679 --> 00:13:57,880
Speaker 2: or brought that issue up again, no matter how it

227
00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:01,720
Speaker 2: turned out. It was mine to own, not his to

228
00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:06,199
Speaker 2: do for me. I've taken that same approach with my children,

229
00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:10,800
Speaker 2: and for us it has worked well. I think I

230
00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:13,839
Speaker 2: don't tell the grown ones what to do, and they

231
00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:16,199
Speaker 2: come to me when they need advice or just for

232
00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:20,320
Speaker 2: someone to listen. That has been the hardest part of

233
00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:23,520
Speaker 2: me being a parent. Being a policeman, my job was

234
00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,240
Speaker 2: to help people, and sometimes I had to try to

235
00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:29,200
Speaker 2: solve their problems and give them away out of a

236
00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:34,920
Speaker 2: bad situation. That helps resolve an immediate issue, but normally

237
00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:38,600
Speaker 2: only delays further action. I can't tell you how many

238
00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:41,520
Speaker 2: times I'd eventually wind up back at that same address,

239
00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:45,080
Speaker 2: dealing with the same issue, until someone wound up spending

240
00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,360
Speaker 2: the night in the stony, lonesome rubbing a nod on

241
00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:51,680
Speaker 2: their head. Now, as a parent, I have to make myself,

242
00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:56,120
Speaker 2: not fix the things for them. Life is hard. Anything

243
00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:58,520
Speaker 2: worth having should be something you have to work for.

244
00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:02,800
Speaker 2: Appreciation for something that I've worked for his head and

245
00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:07,080
Speaker 2: shoulders above anything I've ever been given. And if I

246
00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:09,920
Speaker 2: got it at the end of the struggle, well that's

247
00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:13,360
Speaker 2: even better. And when I see my children work and

248
00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:15,680
Speaker 2: struggle for something that they won't even if they come

249
00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:18,680
Speaker 2: up a little short, the sense of pride I have

250
00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:23,160
Speaker 2: in them can't be measured. The pride they have in

251
00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:26,320
Speaker 2: themselves and the value they've placed on what they've accomplished

252
00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:31,400
Speaker 2: is equally important. Even when the goal is missed, the

253
00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:35,720
Speaker 2: knowledge that they did everything possible to succeed allows them

254
00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:40,000
Speaker 2: to stand knowing they were bested not by lack of effort.

255
00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:43,720
Speaker 2: The traditions of those that came before me that I

256
00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:47,240
Speaker 2: hold dear are as important to me as anything, and

257
00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:50,440
Speaker 2: sitting together at meal time sharing the events and things

258
00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,760
Speaker 2: that go on in our lives, passing the torch to

259
00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:58,000
Speaker 2: the next generation of the stories and important things that

260
00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:04,120
Speaker 2: were handed to me. Next is a good dog. I've

261
00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:07,040
Speaker 2: been privileged to have held in close company, A handful

262
00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:09,960
Speaker 2: of dogs that deserve more than a story or a

263
00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:15,520
Speaker 2: passive reference as having been just good dogs. I think

264
00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:20,720
Speaker 2: of Peanut, Luke, zach, Anne, and Anna, and they have

265
00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:22,120
Speaker 2: all been more than.

266
00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:23,440
Speaker 1: Just a good dog.

267
00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:27,160
Speaker 2: They serve as a catalyst that triggers a million memories

268
00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:30,760
Speaker 2: of moments and people, a lot of them, Like a

269
00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:35,520
Speaker 2: lot of those dogs have passed on. Old Whaling's doing

270
00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:37,200
Speaker 2: great and laying at.

271
00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:38,680
Speaker 1: My feet as we speak.

272
00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:42,680
Speaker 2: The good ones serve as a gentle reminder the devotion

273
00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:47,000
Speaker 2: should be a two way street. Last night, Whaling and

274
00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:49,680
Speaker 2: I took our new tree and walker puppy Jesse out

275
00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:51,200
Speaker 2: for their first time together.

276
00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:54,440
Speaker 1: Jesse's been out three times in total and.

277
00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:57,240
Speaker 2: Has about as much of a clue about treeing a

278
00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:01,000
Speaker 2: coon as I would have driving a submarine. I've taken

279
00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:03,760
Speaker 2: her out with her litter mate that Michael has, and

280
00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:05,920
Speaker 2: that was like us having them a book to read.

281
00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:09,840
Speaker 2: They don't know what they're supposed to do. So when

282
00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:12,840
Speaker 2: I took her out with Whaling, the dog she sees

283
00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,880
Speaker 2: every day, she was way more relaxed and took off

284
00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:18,560
Speaker 2: into the night in her own direction. At one point

285
00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:21,720
Speaker 2: she was almost six hundred yards away from me in

286
00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:25,720
Speaker 2: the opposite direction of Whaling. These are all good things.

287
00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:28,040
Speaker 2: That I'll go into detail when I talk about her

288
00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:31,359
Speaker 2: progression later on. The point of that story is that

289
00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:35,159
Speaker 2: having a good dog is like anything else worth having.

290
00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:38,000
Speaker 2: It takes a commitment for me to put her in

291
00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:42,879
Speaker 2: the best scenario, developing the best way she can. That's

292
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:46,680
Speaker 2: where the bond is built. That's where the communication between

293
00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:50,199
Speaker 2: us is formed, because I can promise you she's watching

294
00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:53,719
Speaker 2: and reacting to me as much or more than I

295
00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:54,640
Speaker 2: am to her.

296
00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:56,480
Speaker 1: Whaling.

297
00:17:56,680 --> 00:17:59,439
Speaker 2: And I built that bond night after night when I

298
00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:02,159
Speaker 2: brought him home on the eve of a chaotic mess

299
00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:06,520
Speaker 2: that was the COVID shutdown. Since then, we've become more

300
00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:11,040
Speaker 2: than just a couple of coon hunters. He's family, and

301
00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:14,000
Speaker 2: regardless of the day I have good or bad, he

302
00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:17,400
Speaker 2: is the constant companion that doesn't care if I kill

303
00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:21,480
Speaker 2: the moose, missed a wolf, burnt the biscuits, or won

304
00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,200
Speaker 2: the lottery. He don't even care if I smell bad.

305
00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:29,840
Speaker 2: A dog, a good one, can add so much flavor

306
00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:32,840
Speaker 2: and joy to your life that it's no wonder the

307
00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:36,240
Speaker 2: aliens orbit in the Earth, observing how we interact with them,

308
00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:39,960
Speaker 2: think the dogs must be in charge. Those four legged

309
00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,040
Speaker 2: mooches ain't bringing me food or giving me a bath.

310
00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:48,160
Speaker 2: Even when I do smell bad, My happiness comes from

311
00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:51,080
Speaker 2: seeing a dog that I've had a modicum of input

312
00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:56,080
Speaker 2: in developing into a solid hunting partner. There's nothing more

313
00:18:56,240 --> 00:19:00,920
Speaker 2: frustrating or rewarding than the key to the whole thing.

314
00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:07,720
Speaker 2: It's patience. How about a well seasoned skillet. I guard

315
00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:10,800
Speaker 2: one in our kitchen like that thing is gold, because

316
00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:15,000
Speaker 2: to me it is. We have a standalone shelf with

317
00:19:15,119 --> 00:19:19,000
Speaker 2: enough cast iron items stacked on it to run a restaurant.

318
00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,600
Speaker 2: There's two pieces, above all else in that collection that

319
00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:26,560
Speaker 2: I'm thinking about having buried with me. One is a

320
00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:29,639
Speaker 2: Dutch oven that my dad has cooked so many fish

321
00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:32,960
Speaker 2: in that Pythagoras himself would be scratching his head and

322
00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:35,800
Speaker 2: drawing in the dirt trying to cipher how many fish

323
00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:38,840
Speaker 2: he took to their last swimming party In that pot

324
00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:42,480
Speaker 2: of hot peanut oil. I have done a number on

325
00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:45,240
Speaker 2: them myself, And until I bought a big double basket

326
00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:47,879
Speaker 2: cage and fryar from the folks down in Homer, Louisiana,

327
00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:49,360
Speaker 2: Dad's was.

328
00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:50,600
Speaker 1: The only one I used.

329
00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:53,920
Speaker 2: I still use it some, but if I'm feeding more

330
00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:56,800
Speaker 2: than just me, the bigger one is just a lot easier,

331
00:19:56,800 --> 00:20:01,000
Speaker 2: but the connection I have to Dad's well goes without saying.

332
00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:04,720
Speaker 2: The second piece is an old skillet that was given

333
00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:07,680
Speaker 2: to me by my mother in law. It is so

334
00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:11,200
Speaker 2: slick a fly couldn't land on it without busting is behind.

335
00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:13,760
Speaker 2: I keep it in top shape and wipe it out

336
00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:18,320
Speaker 2: every time I use it. There's something very satisfying about

337
00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:22,600
Speaker 2: pouring in a mixture of cornmeal, buttermilk and eggs and

338
00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:26,080
Speaker 2: the other goodies that go into a sizzling skillet.

339
00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:27,480
Speaker 1: Of preheated bacon grease.

340
00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:31,959
Speaker 2: The best part is after about twenty minutes, when you

341
00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:34,240
Speaker 2: take that skillet out of the oven and turn it

342
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:38,280
Speaker 2: upside down, and a hard, dark, bottom crusted pone of

343
00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:42,080
Speaker 2: corn bread lands on a plate, the bottom of the

344
00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:46,280
Speaker 2: corn bread crunchy and perfectly intact, the skillet shining and

345
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:48,520
Speaker 2: reflecting light like a mirror.

346
00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:50,120
Speaker 1: And I know in my.

347
00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:56,200
Speaker 2: Heart that my grandmother is smiling with pride. That skillet

348
00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:59,399
Speaker 2: sits on the stove waiting to be called into action.

349
00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:02,680
Speaker 2: I'm at the age where I have a favorite burner.

350
00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:08,080
Speaker 2: That skillet stands there, vigilantly, silent, hovering over the gas burner,

351
00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:12,119
Speaker 2: anticipating the flames that will transform whatever I drop in

352
00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:17,439
Speaker 2: there into something good. Properly seasoned cast iron is the

353
00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:24,760
Speaker 2: original nonstick skillet. That's a simple list of items, not

354
00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:29,320
Speaker 2: the whole list, but neither included anything that runs off

355
00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:34,199
Speaker 2: electricity or requires Wi Fi. And it only took me

356
00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:36,840
Speaker 2: about fifty years to weed through the things that don't

357
00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:41,679
Speaker 2: really matter to see clearly the things that do. I

358
00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:46,120
Speaker 2: hope your journey is faster, though was equally the same results.

359
00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:50,840
Speaker 2: Be thankful, be kind, and be delight for someone else.

360
00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:54,520
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for listening to me, Clay and

361
00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:56,280
Speaker 2: Lake and until next week.

362
00:21:56,440 --> 00:22:02,800
Speaker 1: This is Brent Reeves. Sign it off. Y'all, be careful.

363
00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:05,920
Speaker 1: I don