jesus that town sounds warped and ive lived in plenty of redneck towns...Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and 20 years in Florida Panhandle (Lower Alabama). I worked with plenty of em and for most part get along and easily enough with but these creeps evoke Straw Dogs meets Twin Peaks and thats a bad mix. Here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan you'll never see that kind of paranoid unpleasant signage unlike in Panhandle those dusty roads i drove looking for some customer to work on their house or a pond to fish in where just 2 of the clever signs at head of scrub pine drives read "Theres Nothing on This Property Worth Dying For" and another "Any Further and You are in Range". Work was slow there during the census of 2020 so i got a job doin that and loved meeting all these people i never would have and exploring but one place i pulled into had a chain fence and sign spouting some anti-government hysteria and i could hear the automatic weapons popping up above in a field. Sauntered over to fence double checking my map and they must have had a camera and suddenly down the hill speeds a jeep with four young bucks waving assault weapons and screeching like Apache. I lit a cigarette and showed them my credentials but they ran me off anyways obviously hoping i'd say something incendiary. I was gonna ask them where i could get a bumper sticker with stick figures "meet the family" but on rusted-out trucks read "Meet My Very Loud Family" and the silhouettes are not the kids but all various guns lined up. Makes me laugh to think how the NRA has been humbled lately, you never hear SHIT from them anymore and this crap will end eventually with people like that living in their own areas of incompetence and ignorance. Fuck em.
I don’t have a fiery temper but if someone threatens my animals… I get pretty damn ugly fast! I’ve never had to stand up to crazy rednecks with an arsenal of guns though!
This line… so true - love it!
“Wogart was dignified and friendly and unlike Sandy he didn’t need a badge or a gun to gain people’s respect.”
Fantastic writing Anna, I do hope Sandy and that crazy Charlie guy meet their match some day - perhaps each other!
Thanks Susie, I don't know about Charlie but Sandy died recently, and the NC kids, now all middle aged, had a lot of ...reminisces... about him on facebook.
Woooow, what a story! PLEASE tell me you sold up and moved on quickly?
As someone that lives in England, this whole thing is so alien to me. We don't really have guns here, so to read about them being used in this way is so jarring. Such an interesting read, though. Really transported me out of my own life for a few minutes
Had a similar reaction from a cop when I reported a trespasser at my place up in Cambridge, MA at midnight. “Well, looking like you, I can understand…” he said. (I find it hard to contain my rage for people’s reverence at the police force when they don’t actually SERVE a majority of the country).
I care about you and Jesse, but I'm really scared for Wogart. And I'm intrigued by your rotation between California and Europe. You're still on that hill looking at Miguel on his bike.
Nothing bad happens to Wogart, FYI. I myself am very careful never to read anything where something happens to the dog, it's just the worst! As far as the rotation between CA and Europe, no idea if it's going to make sense in the end. It's really strange to be publishing as I write without knowing if it will work together as a whole. Thanks for coming along for the ride.
jesus that town sounds warped and ive lived in plenty of redneck towns...Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and 20 years in Florida Panhandle (Lower Alabama). I worked with plenty of em and for most part get along and easily enough with but these creeps evoke Straw Dogs meets Twin Peaks and thats a bad mix. Here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan you'll never see that kind of paranoid unpleasant signage unlike in Panhandle those dusty roads i drove looking for some customer to work on their house or a pond to fish in where just 2 of the clever signs at head of scrub pine drives read "Theres Nothing on This Property Worth Dying For" and another "Any Further and You are in Range". Work was slow there during the census of 2020 so i got a job doin that and loved meeting all these people i never would have and exploring but one place i pulled into had a chain fence and sign spouting some anti-government hysteria and i could hear the automatic weapons popping up above in a field. Sauntered over to fence double checking my map and they must have had a camera and suddenly down the hill speeds a jeep with four young bucks waving assault weapons and screeching like Apache. I lit a cigarette and showed them my credentials but they ran me off anyways obviously hoping i'd say something incendiary. I was gonna ask them where i could get a bumper sticker with stick figures "meet the family" but on rusted-out trucks read "Meet My Very Loud Family" and the silhouettes are not the kids but all various guns lined up. Makes me laugh to think how the NRA has been humbled lately, you never hear SHIT from them anymore and this crap will end eventually with people like that living in their own areas of incompetence and ignorance. Fuck em.
Holy shit!!! Um, I'm glad you didn't ask about the bumper sticker. 'Merica is a very strange place for sure.
understatement
🙃
I don’t have a fiery temper but if someone threatens my animals… I get pretty damn ugly fast! I’ve never had to stand up to crazy rednecks with an arsenal of guns though!
This line… so true - love it!
“Wogart was dignified and friendly and unlike Sandy he didn’t need a badge or a gun to gain people’s respect.”
Fantastic writing Anna, I do hope Sandy and that crazy Charlie guy meet their match some day - perhaps each other!
Thanks Susie, I don't know about Charlie but Sandy died recently, and the NC kids, now all middle aged, had a lot of ...reminisces... about him on facebook.
Oh Lordy! Now I feel bad…
Not me!
Holy crap this is stunning! I'm with Wogart--the redneck and scummy cops got my hackles up
Thanks Will!
Woooow, what a story! PLEASE tell me you sold up and moved on quickly?
As someone that lives in England, this whole thing is so alien to me. We don't really have guns here, so to read about them being used in this way is so jarring. Such an interesting read, though. Really transported me out of my own life for a few minutes
Guns are the worst. Thanks Charlotte! P.S. I moved on quickly...
I'm VERY glad to hear it!
What a brilliant, gripping chapter. I'm just glad everyone came out of it alive.
haha, thanks! me too.
Was on the edge of my seat, and so angry for you. This is just a tremendous story.
Thanks Ally!
sheesh! ya know my grandad lived in Nevada City and this all checks out. nice chapter here :)
Wow that's crazy! And yeah. And thanks!
Had a similar reaction from a cop when I reported a trespasser at my place up in Cambridge, MA at midnight. “Well, looking like you, I can understand…” he said. (I find it hard to contain my rage for people’s reverence at the police force when they don’t actually SERVE a majority of the country).
It's not uncommon I guess but just unbelievable
.. did you see Winter’s Bone ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter's_Bone
Cliffhanger?
Good boy, Wogart. You took this chapter on a wild and scary walk.
I care about you and Jesse, but I'm really scared for Wogart. And I'm intrigued by your rotation between California and Europe. You're still on that hill looking at Miguel on his bike.
Nothing bad happens to Wogart, FYI. I myself am very careful never to read anything where something happens to the dog, it's just the worst! As far as the rotation between CA and Europe, no idea if it's going to make sense in the end. It's really strange to be publishing as I write without knowing if it will work together as a whole. Thanks for coming along for the ride.
I could watch a war movie where soldiers are massacred en masse w/o bother, but if a dog is harmed...
Another great entryIn an awesome story!
Thanks David!
My pleasure :)