Southerners believe in some things that others find odd. We or some of us believe in UFO's, Big Foot, and Ghost. Now when I say Southerners, I'm speaking for myself and some others I know. I'm sure there are a great deal many other'ns out there who believe in the same thing. Those folks are just afraid to admit it. They are afraid to admit it because some folks might call them a little crazy. Now, we southerns don't hide our crazy notions. Just like our crazy relatives. We put it all out there. Southerners are proud of their crazy relatives. We love to sit around and tell our crazy relative stories.
Now I will tell you a story. This story was told to me by a not so crazy lady. She was a very fine southern lady and I do mean lady. She was not an "embelisher" nor a "make up a story to impress ya with kinda lady". She will remain nameless but some of you who know me well will know this story.
In the summer of 1977, this lady had been out mowing her yard. Well she had an accident and her foot went under the mower and cut her toe off. Now I tell you this because it has impact on the story. You see she was sleeping in the front bedroom of her house because her hubby tossed and turned and kept her awake worrying if he was going to hit her toeless foot or not. So for recovery she was sleeping in the front of the house. Now these folks lived on a pig farm in Sharon, Tennessee. They lived out in the country just out of the city limits. I spent way lots of time on this farm.
Well so here's the story. Lady was sleeping one night in the front bedroom. She woke up and noticed first that she didn't hear anything. Well anyone who has ever lived on or near a pig farm, knows that the sows and feeders eat all night. You leave the lights on so the feeders will just eat their way right to the slaughter house. Well the drop feeders are metal and when they eat the covers "drop". The drop feeders make a loud noise and this goes on all night. Well lady noticed it was quiet. Then she noticed that there was a light on outside. She decided to get up and see who had left the sow barn light on cause it was shining in her window.
Turns out it was no barn light. When she looked out the window she said she "saw the brightest light she had ever seen. Now this "bright light" was sitting just above the trees. First she thought it was just a big bright moon. Then she thought no, I've never seen anything like that. She said " I thought hubbie will never ever believe this". So she went to wake him up. Hubbie got up and was skeptical. Well he and lady went out on front porch and she said "this thing with a bright light was hovering right there above the trees over the barn across the road from their house". Now this said barn was about oh .... I don't know across the drive way but not really very far. I used to play in that barn and lord you all know I wasn't walking far then either! So they stood and watched it for a minute. Well it didn't move it just "hovered" so they sat in the swing. Well after about 10 minutes its started to move towards them. Lady said she then told hubby " you can sit here and let them get you if you want I'm going in the house". So she did. Well I guess hubbie didn't want to get "got" so he went in the house to. She said they sat on the end of the bed and watched for a little while longer and then got tired and went back to bed.
She was serious and never wavered from her story. I believed her then and I believe her now. I do remember my mama telling her ... omg lady they have pictures of you in your nightgown. They used to laugh about that.
Now we travel forward to about 3 weeks in the future. If you all knew me you know I grew up on a horse. Quite literally I rode everywhere. I rode to Demetra Hankins everyday tied my horse to the front rail on her carport and she always had a Popsicle for me handy and I'd sit and play with Beth who was about 2 and fold all Demetra's washcloths if she had laundry on the line. Well this day I rode up and Demetra said don't go no further down this road. You cut across Tommy Jones field and get home before dark there have been some strange things going on. Well I didn't know what she was talking about but she never told me to do anything in her scary voice so i got Misty ( my horse ) and I went home!
Well about 2 nights later, my mama and daddy were outside late. I say late it was after dark and to a kid that's LATE. Well my daddy came in the house and got a gun ( like you can reach a UFO with a gun) but my daddy never got a gun out unless he was gonna go hunting or the one time my mama was gonna shoot my uncle. She didn't and he's fine. Well he and my mama were out side with Char and Ken Darling, and then Mr. Jerry Swinney drove up. Seems there was something in the sky hovering right at the tree line. It would hover there and then shoot across the field to the other tree line and then hover there. SO my daddy went over to Ed Hawks house behind the tree line and you couldnt' see it from there. So Ed came over and then several other friends and pretty soon we had a UFO watching party. SO my daddy saddled his horse and Ed called the sheriff. ( not sure what the police were supposed to do about it) The police said they had nothing in the air in the area. Well that was not surprising because well they probably had nothing to put in the air. Its a small county. I remember my daddy saddling his horse and riding toward that thing. Well as he got closer and closer it finally just went away real fast. Now, I can't say it flew away or zipped away because it was just simply gone. I remember sleeping with my daddy that night and I kinda scared from then on. Not as scared as one of my uncles. BILLY, I had to walk him to the barn if it was dark. He said just to keep him company but he was scared.
So many many years passed and I was at my mom and dad's in Palmersville Tennessee one night. I had been living in Texas about 5 years and had heard all about the Marfa lights. I have not seen them but I want to and I'll get there, I will. Well my dad was out in the back yard and he came in for his telescope. Yes, folks Dennis Branson has a telescope and a big one with mirrors and such. He set it up and came to the door, and I hear. DENNA COME HERE. So I went. He pointed out a glow in the sky. I could see it and it was not a star. It was big. Well it kept moving back and forth over the Coley Gullies. We watched that for at least 20 minutes. Daddy said he had now seen it twice and had seen something 2 other times over the back pasture.
I got home to Texas and looked it up. Turns out there had been 200 UFO sitings in Palmersville, Tennessee over an 8 month period and there were 162 reported sitings that were found to be explainable but not the others. So folks .. watch the sky there could be something there! If I get to Marfa Texas I'll get a picture for you.
Bigfoot, yes I think there is something in the woods. Don't know what but there could be. How do we know we are not there all the time. Now my daddy used to hunt all the time. He was a coon hunter. He used to hunt the bottoms of between Sidonia, Sharon, Greenfield and Kenton. He was hunting one night with some other folks and they were deep in the bottom on Ethergies Levey. Well they heard something and it seemed to be following them. They would cross the swampy bottoms and this thing would follow. Daddy said he could never get its eyes to "shine". So they were kind of spooked and left and folks my daddy isn't scared of the devil himself. Well the next night they went back. Sure enough they got to the same area and something "picked them up". Daddy said the dogs started to whine and cry and would not run a coon trail. The dogs stayed right with them. My daddy said his blue tick hound aka ole blue. Was shaking and stayed right with them. Duke ran straight back to the truck. Well whatever it was followed them all the way to the bridge. Daddy said he talked to a lady who lived right on the tree line of that bottom and she said she never hung her clothes out to dry anymore because she always felt like something was watching her.
There were several more story's like this from Beech Ridge. Daddy said he used to find the oddest things on Beech Ridge and sometimes the dogs would not hunt on Beech Ridge and would run back to the truck like something was chasing them. I remember going down there one Sunday afternoon during the day and daddy tromped all over beech ridge. I remember asking what we were looking for and Daddy saying he didn't know and didn't know if he wanted to find it. I'm not saying it was a big foot but there was something in that bottom.
Now for Ghost ... oh yeah I believe. I really do. Now I know there are things we can't explain. What fun would life be if we could explain everything. We all like to embellish and these stories I have told you are true. I'll use a line from my daddy. "if i'm lyin i'm dyin"
Now there is this TV show about finding big foot. Now this show is entertaining and I like to watch it when I get the remote. This is not often folks. Well the one thing about this show is "bubba" never really finds anything but some deer in the woods with broken legs. We I know there are deer in the woods and I'm sure its not too hard to break a leg. They never find anything. I have researched and in 1980 a guy found some "droppings". Now how did he know these droppings were odd. I have no idea. I don't go lookin for droppings. I do know that they sent those off for DNA testing and it came back as no match to anything documented. Now in Florida they call it the swamp ape. In Louisiana its the Stink ape. In the pacific northwest they call it big foot or Yeti. There are many folks that believe in something and there is a Big Foot town in East Texas. All I know if someone finds one, I will be the first one standing in line to see the thing. I don't care how far I have to drive. Just ask Kim Swank I have driven several hours to find a house and take pictures of it. I have waited on back roads to take pictures of dead cows in yards and dragged my fat ass through brush just to get incriminating pictures that would never be used in a court of law. Fact is I love to watch stuff. I love to find things and then laugh at how it would have been if we had gotten caught right in that parade traffic in Eustace Texas taking pictures of that nasty house by those crazy folks who probably had a dern gun ... right KIM! Hey Kim I still have those darn pictures!
Oh yes I have stood out and gazed at the heavens, not in search of a higher being but for a Being of a different world. I think they are there why not. Just like everyone else I have lots of questions for God when I get there and you can bet your sweet butt the first one is going to be, God what was that hovering thing and is there really life on other planets and to they come to visit? The second one is going to be God is Big Foot real? Now I'm sure God will roll his eyes at me and pat me on the back. Then I will know for sure. :)
Hope you like my story and if you think I'm just a crazy southerner? Well you could be right or maybe just maybe I'm right.
D
No comments:
Post a Comment