WEBVTT - Ep. 137: THIS COUNTRY LIFE - Manly Footwear

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

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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, and teach you

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<v Speaker 1>manly footwear. What does your footwear say about your manhood?

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<v Speaker 1>Or does it say anything at all? Was it more

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<v Speaker 1>important years ago than now? Well we're going to talk

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<v Speaker 1>about all that. And here's some thoughts from a friend

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<v Speaker 1>of mine that leans toward the old adage at least

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<v Speaker 1>for him, that she make the man. Do you believe that?

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<v Speaker 1>Or have his rubber boots of common sense developed? The leak?

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<v Speaker 1>We're gonna talk all about it, but first I'm gonna

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<v Speaker 1>tell you a story. It was cold, It was bad cold,

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<v Speaker 1>and guess what it was supposed to get colder. It

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<v Speaker 1>was January in Arkansas's duck season, and somewhere around nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>ninety eight, my brother Tim and I were hosting a

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<v Speaker 1>group of folks from North Carolina at our place, Southern

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<v Speaker 1>Water Fowler's Guide Service near Raydale, Arkansas. Now, these boys

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<v Speaker 1>have been customers for a few years and were a

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<v Speaker 1>good group of folks to hunt with. They all had

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<v Speaker 1>a passion for duck hunting in green timber and viewed

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<v Speaker 1>Arkansas as the pinnacle place to do it. They were

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<v Speaker 1>an eclectic mix of friends with different backgrounds and occupations,

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<v Speaker 1>which meant different amounts of disposable income. Some could show

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<v Speaker 1>up at the last minute if an opened and became available,

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<v Speaker 1>but most of them, man, they saved all year long

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<v Speaker 1>for that trip. I'll be honest with you, I couldn't

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<v Speaker 1>have afforded a hunted with us. At that time. We

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<v Speaker 1>were charging three hundred dollars a day per person for

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<v Speaker 1>half a day hunting. That included a bed in the

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<v Speaker 1>Rebel Yell, three home cooked meals, and all the adult

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<v Speaker 1>libations our clients could hold. Now, folks usually booked a

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<v Speaker 1>minimum of three days, so that's nine hundred bucks plus

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<v Speaker 1>gas driving out there or the plane ticket to fly

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<v Speaker 1>to Little Rock. That would have priced this cat plumb

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<v Speaker 1>out of the running for a guided hunt. So the

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<v Speaker 1>boys that Scrimpton saved for that trip were just as

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<v Speaker 1>high a priority for us to entertain and take care

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<v Speaker 1>of as the folks that didn't even think about pay

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<v Speaker 1>in that amount, maybe even more so. That meant getting

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<v Speaker 1>up day after day, way before the clients, having coffee

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<v Speaker 1>and breakfast ready, decoys, loaded, boats, gashed up, hunters assigned

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<v Speaker 1>of vehicles, snacks made and packed, and after the hunt,

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<v Speaker 1>dinner made, ducks cleaned, tagged and packaged equipment, maintained, clients, entertained,

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<v Speaker 1>supper prepared clients, entertained kitchen cleaned clients, entertained clients, put

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<v Speaker 1>to bed, and the final prep for the following day,

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<v Speaker 1>and finally in the bed, usually after midnight, for a

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<v Speaker 1>few short hours of sleep, before it all started over

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<v Speaker 1>again at the sound of the alarm. It didn't matter

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<v Speaker 1>who the fellow was that was paying for the opportunity

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<v Speaker 1>to hunt with us. We were set on doing our

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<v Speaker 1>dead level best to ensure that they had the best

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<v Speaker 1>possible chance to shoot some After all, we like shooting

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<v Speaker 1>ducks too. Now, all that being said, when a big

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<v Speaker 1>arctic coal front rolls in and freezes everything, and I

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<v Speaker 1>mean everything from the Missouri line down to the Louisiana.

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<v Speaker 1>It's cold. Schools are shutting down because the pipes for

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<v Speaker 1>freezing and busting. Businesses were closing early. But guess who's

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<v Speaker 1>still working. Me and Timmy. We got six class to hunt,

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<v Speaker 1>eight counting us, and we don't get a day off

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<v Speaker 1>until duck season is over. Now. We scouted the evening

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<v Speaker 1>before and found some ducks in a place that was

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<v Speaker 1>quickly freezing in the woods around the edges, but there

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<v Speaker 1>was current out in the timber. The water was abnormally

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<v Speaker 1>high for that time of year, and it had opened

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<v Speaker 1>up a lot of places in the woods that weren't

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<v Speaker 1>normally flooded. Now, I'm not gonna say the name of

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<v Speaker 1>the place, because apparently naming a place that's already known

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<v Speaker 1>by every public land duck hunter this side of the

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<v Speaker 1>North Pole in a story that happened twenty five years ago,

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<v Speaker 1>will get you branded these days as a spot burner.

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<v Speaker 1>So I'll just call the place the Woods. Eight people

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<v Speaker 1>don't fit safely in a sixteen footle of a boat,

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<v Speaker 1>So I took tim a bag of decoys and three

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<v Speaker 1>of the smallest clients and drove them up the bow

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<v Speaker 1>to a spot on the levee where they would wait

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<v Speaker 1>for me to go back, pick up the other hunters,

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<v Speaker 1>other sack of decoys, and head back to where they were.

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<v Speaker 1>This was way before daylight and the temperatures were in

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<v Speaker 1>the teens. The water that was spraying on me and

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<v Speaker 1>in the boat was freezing as soon as it made contact,

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<v Speaker 1>and everything that got wet, including my right hand that

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<v Speaker 1>I was using to hold the spotlight, was covered in

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<v Speaker 1>a clear sheet of ice that ran down to my elbow,

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<v Speaker 1>where a little icicle had formed. Did I tell you

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<v Speaker 1>all it was cold? Now? It was? But I wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>and neither was Tim. And while we couldn't have afforded

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<v Speaker 1>to hunt with us, buying waiters was a business expense.

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<v Speaker 1>We'd both just got a brand new pair of fleece

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<v Speaker 1>lined insulated near prene waiters, five millimeters thick and sixteen

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<v Speaker 1>hundred grams of theensilating the boots. We were virtually bulletproof

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<v Speaker 1>to freezing anyway. With the last group and all their

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<v Speaker 1>plunder loaded in the boat, we headed back up the

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<v Speaker 1>baou to find Tim and the others. The high water

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<v Speaker 1>allowed us to easily pull the boat out of the bio,

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<v Speaker 1>across the levee and into the woods, and as far

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<v Speaker 1>as I knew, we were the only folks on the

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<v Speaker 1>planet that knew where an open water was in the woods,

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<v Speaker 1>and the afternoon it was full of Mallard ducks. The

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<v Speaker 1>only issue was there was about one hundred yards of

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<v Speaker 1>ice between us and the creek channel that we'd found

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<v Speaker 1>the day before where the ducks were. We pulled the

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<v Speaker 1>boat across the levee and knocked out a hole in

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<v Speaker 1>the ice for the boat. The water wasn't deep enough

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<v Speaker 1>to run the motor, so Tim had to get on

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<v Speaker 1>the front deck to raise the back end high enough

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<v Speaker 1>for me to put the motor in shallow water drive.

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<v Speaker 1>We took off and broke ice like we were in

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<v Speaker 1>the barren sea. We were blazing the trail and knee

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<v Speaker 1>deep water, kicking up a rooster tail of ice leaves

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<v Speaker 1>and freezing water, and six North Carolinians were following in

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<v Speaker 1>our wake, hooping and hollering and cheering us on. We

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<v Speaker 1>left the extra early because we figured it wasn't going

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<v Speaker 1>to be easy. Unfortunately, we were righted. The ice was

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<v Speaker 1>thick and the water a little deeper eventually, and Tim

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<v Speaker 1>had to stand on the ice as the boat moved forward,

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<v Speaker 1>causing ply of wood sheets to break free and him

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<v Speaker 1>to come splashing down while still holding onto the front

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<v Speaker 1>of the boat and landing on his feet. He had

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<v Speaker 1>his coat tucked down inside those new chest waiters, and

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<v Speaker 1>water had splashed way up past his waist, but other

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<v Speaker 1>than his gloves freezing up and sticking to the front

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<v Speaker 1>of the boat, he was dry as a bone. The

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<v Speaker 1>water finally got deep enough to drop the motor all

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<v Speaker 1>the way, so he hopped up on the front with

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<v Speaker 1>his butt flat on that aluminum deck and his legs

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<v Speaker 1>poked out in front of him, with his heels of

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<v Speaker 1>his new waiters skating across the top of the ice.

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<v Speaker 1>As I motored us forward through the thinning ice and

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<v Speaker 1>toward the open water, I looked behind the boat and

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<v Speaker 1>falling was a train of stumbling and tripping duck hunters,

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<v Speaker 1>And back to the front was my brother, looking like

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<v Speaker 1>a camouflaged hood on it, wearing his wool army helmet

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<v Speaker 1>lighter with a smoking marlbor or red clenched between his teeth.

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<v Speaker 1>He was grinning like a mule, eating sawbriers and shining

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<v Speaker 1>in the spotlight. As the water that had been splashing

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<v Speaker 1>on him froze on the outside of his waiters. We

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<v Speaker 1>got to the edge of where we were going to

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<v Speaker 1>set up, and I shined up into the leafless trees.

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<v Speaker 1>In a hole about sixty feet by eighty feet appeared

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<v Speaker 1>in the canopy. There were duck feathers laying everywhere from

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<v Speaker 1>where the ducks had been bushed up the day before. Buddy,

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<v Speaker 1>we were on the ex tim jobbed to paddle down

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<v Speaker 1>in front of him, touched the bottom, said it ain't

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<v Speaker 1>too deep, and when he tried to jump off the boat,

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<v Speaker 1>he didn't go anywhere. He said, I'm stuck to the boat.

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<v Speaker 1>My waiters are froze to the deck. He rocked back

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<v Speaker 1>and forth a couple of times, and with one mighty heave,

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<v Speaker 1>he pushed down with both hands and jumped forward out

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<v Speaker 1>of the boat into waste deep water, leaving the seat

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<v Speaker 1>of his brand new waiters still frozen and stuck to

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<v Speaker 1>the deck. The cold, fridgid water poured into his waiters

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<v Speaker 1>quicker than he had jumped out of the boat, and

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<v Speaker 1>he unleashed a violent string of colorful metaphors that quieted

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<v Speaker 1>the crowd and filled the darkness with a soul as

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<v Speaker 1>tirade that seemed to go on in perpetuity. I figured

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<v Speaker 1>it's still out there floating around in space, knocking satellites

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<v Speaker 1>out of orbit. But eventually he regained his composure and

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<v Speaker 1>he toughed it out until around ten o'clock that morning,

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<v Speaker 1>when we called it. The big raft of ducks that

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<v Speaker 1>we'd seen the day before never returned, but we kept

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<v Speaker 1>the skunk away by scratching out enough for a mess.

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<v Speaker 1>Those boys paid for the opportunity and dry boots or

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<v Speaker 1>wet ones. We were going to make sure they had one.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's just how that happened. Mainly footwear, let's talk

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<v Speaker 1>about it. Jerry Clower mentioned broke Ann's shoes in his

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<v Speaker 1>story about Coonan. It was the bran John U. Banks

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<v Speaker 1>preferred to wear until tree climbing time came, and then

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<v Speaker 1>he'd slipping them brogans off and commenced to climbing the tree.

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<v Speaker 1>My dad mentioned Brogan shoes to me, describing what woods

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<v Speaker 1>looked like when he was a boy, saying them wood's

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<v Speaker 1>over there behind little lake used to be so open.

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<v Speaker 1>I could run down through them bottoms barefooted. Now I

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<v Speaker 1>wouldn't do it wearing a pair of brogans. The Brogans

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't a company it was a style of boot. They

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<v Speaker 1>were issued to soldiers on both sides during the War

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<v Speaker 1>between the States, and you can buy them now, a

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<v Speaker 1>boot that's had its origin traced back to Scotland and

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<v Speaker 1>Ireland where they originated in the sixteen hundreds. Now that's

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<v Speaker 1>a pair of manly footwear. Everyone from farmers the soldiers

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<v Speaker 1>were kicking around doing everything from growing corn ten and

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<v Speaker 1>sheep and shooting at one another while wearing them. Now

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<v Speaker 1>they're just as likely to be worn by a fellow

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<v Speaker 1>sporting a man bun. How times have changed, and along

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<v Speaker 1>with haircuts, so of men's shoes. Boots. That's what a

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<v Speaker 1>real man wears, they say, boots made from the clothes

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<v Speaker 1>last night's hamburger was wearing. Now what more perfect of

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<v Speaker 1>an animal could have been gifted to us from our

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<v Speaker 1>creator than a cow ground zero for hamburgers and steaks.

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<v Speaker 1>Through the most simple and organic methods, these wondering machines

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<v Speaker 1>have the ability to turn plants into meat, something college

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<v Speaker 1>educated scientists that can place humans on the moon and

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<v Speaker 1>bring them back home have yet to master. While cows,

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<v Speaker 1>they walk around doing it like Obi Wagu Knobi's with

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<v Speaker 1>no reverse or thumbs and wearing a closet full of

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<v Speaker 1>future boots and footballs. The cow I may have to

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<v Speaker 1>do a podcast on them now me. I like a

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<v Speaker 1>good pair of boots as well as the next fellow.

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<v Speaker 1>But anyone that's ever listened to the bear grease render

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<v Speaker 1>will know that I ain't opposed to crocs or flip flops.

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<v Speaker 1>My brother, the great bear grease rhetorician himself, Klay Knukelem,

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<v Speaker 1>who infers that shoes make the man, has on more

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<v Speaker 1>than one occasion cast disparagement upon my choice of kicks.

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<v Speaker 1>His core philosophy, and I ain't kidding, is that a

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<v Speaker 1>man should wear leather boots of some type ninety nine

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<v Speaker 1>percent of the time unless he's exercising. He said. Crocs

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<v Speaker 1>might be okay in a camp setting, but only if

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<v Speaker 1>you were in arm's reach of a gun. He said

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<v Speaker 1>he feels uncomfortable when he's not wearing cowboy or hiking

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<v Speaker 1>boots at Rascal also told me once and I quote,

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<v Speaker 1>a man can't properly defend his family in a fight

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<v Speaker 1>wearing crocs are flip flops. Well, Clay Bow, I got

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<v Speaker 1>some news for you. When I'm defending my family, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>pressing the fight and moving forward, not backing up. So

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<v Speaker 1>my shoes they going with me. And for that matter,

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<v Speaker 1>you can fight barefoot. If you're a good fighter, you

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<v Speaker 1>ain't gonna be fighting long anyway. Now. As a young

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<v Speaker 1>man in school, I held truer to Clay's way of

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<v Speaker 1>thinking that I do now. Unless I was on the

0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:14.559
<v Speaker 1>football field wearing cleats, I was cruising in a pair

0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:18.640
<v Speaker 1>of cowboy boots or Red Wing Model six twelve moccasin

0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:22.360
<v Speaker 1>toe lace ub boots. I wore those red Wings for years,

0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:25.040
<v Speaker 1>even after I got out of school. It was a

0:14:25.160 --> 0:14:28.000
<v Speaker 1>style for folks that worked in the woods, and for

0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:30.520
<v Speaker 1>a time back in the eighties, you could pick out

0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:34.080
<v Speaker 1>a forestry working nine times out of ten by what

0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:38.480
<v Speaker 1>he was wearing, a colored T shirt with a pocket overalls,

0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:41.760
<v Speaker 1>or a pair of Levis with a skull ring on

0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:46.000
<v Speaker 1>his back pocket and a pair of red Wings. When

0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:48.840
<v Speaker 1>I was working for Georgia Pacific managing timber before I

0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:52.200
<v Speaker 1>started fighting crying for a living, the red Wing boot

0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:55.360
<v Speaker 1>man would drive a semi with a custom trailer to

0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:59.000
<v Speaker 1>the parking lot and we could go get fitted, sign

0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:01.440
<v Speaker 1>a payroll, a dut uction form, and walk out of

0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:04.040
<v Speaker 1>there with a brand new pair of boots, a free

0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:08.040
<v Speaker 1>pair of socks, and a can of mink on. Those

0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:10.880
<v Speaker 1>boots were sixty dollars a pair, and I couldn't have

0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:15.400
<v Speaker 1>afforded them without the payroll installment plan ten dollars a paycheck.

0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:19.240
<v Speaker 1>Fast forward to last weekend when my wife Alexis and

0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:23.760
<v Speaker 1>I were shopping for our daughter Bailey school shoes. That's same,

0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:26.840
<v Speaker 1>sixty dollars didn't go far and the shoe store demanded

0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:30.640
<v Speaker 1>I pay him full price before we left. Not funny

0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:36.080
<v Speaker 1>how times have changed. Anyway. This whole men wear boots

0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:38.760
<v Speaker 1>and only boots has a lot of basis in the

0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:41.880
<v Speaker 1>fact that that's what men mainly wore when this country

0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:47.640
<v Speaker 1>was settled and tamed. They didn't have a lot of choices. Cowboys, soldiers,

0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:52.440
<v Speaker 1>explorers have all been celebrated as iconic figures, and even

0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:55.200
<v Speaker 1>Old Merle Haggard paid homage to boots in his song

0:15:55.720 --> 0:16:01.400
<v Speaker 1>Okie from Muskogie. He sang that their boots are still

0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:06.360
<v Speaker 1>in style for manly footwear. Beads and Roman sandals won't

0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:10.040
<v Speaker 1>be seen now. Old Merle didn't say the men wasn't

0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:13.120
<v Speaker 1>wearing them in Muskogie, He just said they wouldn't be

0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:17.280
<v Speaker 1>seen wearing them. The Internet sometimes is such a wonderful

0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:21.240
<v Speaker 1>thing being a detective fraud these years. I played a

0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:26.440
<v Speaker 1>hunch and googled Merle Haggard crocks, and there they were,

0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:30.880
<v Speaker 1>in all their polyethylene vinyl acetate glory. A pair of

0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:35.200
<v Speaker 1>Merle Haggard crocks for forty four dollars and ninety five cents.

0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:37.720
<v Speaker 1>That's almost as much as a pair of red Wing

0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:40.440
<v Speaker 1>Model six twelves costs that I was making bi monthly

0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:44.400
<v Speaker 1>payments on. Back in the day, the Marshall Tucker Band

0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:47.320
<v Speaker 1>opined that you shouldn't be with a woman long enough

0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:51.080
<v Speaker 1>for you boots to get old, and not to be outdone.

0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:55.520
<v Speaker 1>Nancy Sinatra said her boots were made for walking, so

0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:59.520
<v Speaker 1>it works both ways. There's validity in what Clay says,

0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:02.640
<v Speaker 1>because whether I agree with it or not, it's his

0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:06.479
<v Speaker 1>belief and his core value, and people must figure out

0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:10.920
<v Speaker 1>what theirs are. We should respect him. It's all right

0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:12.800
<v Speaker 1>with me if he wants to set around a camp

0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:15.000
<v Speaker 1>and a pair of hot leather boots while my piggies

0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:17.240
<v Speaker 1>are all going to the market and digging the freedom

0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:20.359
<v Speaker 1>of a pair of rubber shoes. SD Gordon was a

0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:23.679
<v Speaker 1>minister and a writer in the late nineteenth and early

0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:29.360
<v Speaker 1>twentieth centuries, and he offered up the following Shoes divide

0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:33.919
<v Speaker 1>men into three classes. Some men wear their father's shoes.

0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:38.600
<v Speaker 1>They make no decisions of their own. Some are unthinkingly

0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:43.760
<v Speaker 1>shot by the crowd. The strong man is his own cobbler.

0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:49.439
<v Speaker 1>He insists on making his own choices. He walks in

0:17:49.520 --> 0:18:00.960
<v Speaker 1>his own shoes. I like that. I read it about

0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:03.119
<v Speaker 1>five times, and I think I got more out of

0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:07.440
<v Speaker 1>it every time I did. Obviously, you have to make

0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:09.959
<v Speaker 1>your own way and walk your own path. And it

0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:13.840
<v Speaker 1>doesn't matter if you're wearing a pair of cowboy boots, brogans,

0:18:14.440 --> 0:18:18.080
<v Speaker 1>or Merle Haggard crocks. When you do it, just do it.

0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:22.119
<v Speaker 1>No wait, that's running shoes. Oh well, it don't matter.

0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:26.440
<v Speaker 1>Do what makes you happy. That's good for you and

0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:31.200
<v Speaker 1>everyone around you. Y'all be respectful and good to one another.

0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:35.440
<v Speaker 1>And that's just about its country as country gets. This

0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:38.920
<v Speaker 1>is Brent Reeves signing off. Y'all be careful