The Crooked Man

For the last couple of weeks I have been plugging through my series of Hellboy books. All of them have been extremely entertaining and full of action but I have not come across a story yet that sent shivers down my spine. It is possible that I am hard-hearted, desensitized perhaps would be the better word. But none of the scary stories have truly scared me.

That is until The Crooked Man.

In 1956, somewhere in the mountains of West Virginia, Hellboy encounters Tom, a man who in his youth sold his sold to a backwoods demon known as the Crooked Man. Together they travel back into the dark heart of the Appalachian Mountains to confront that demon and see if Tom's soul can't be saved. 

Maybe it got to me because this was the first supernatural Hellboy story that took place in the United States, you know, close to home. It could have been because of its location in the mountains. That is kinda freaky since I live so close to the mountains. It also could be that it had to do with demons, and that can be very real to me. There are a ton of reasons, watching a witch slip into a human skin, the Mellingeon Witches (which are the settlers that disappeared at Roanoke which mixed in with the Croatan Indians) who follow and call for them while they hike to find the Crooked Man and the tense stand-off between the Crooked Man and his followers and Tom, Hellboy and a priest in a church.

While all that can be downright spooky, that is not what makes this story so spine-chilling. 

I'll never EVER go hiking in the Appalachian Mountains.

What really got me was the creepy art by legend Richard Corben. His interpretation and first appearance of the Crooked Man is what gave me a huge case of the willies. 

This fantastically creepy story is now my all-time favorite Hellboy stories. If you like to be frightened and haunted by something odd and unsettling, this book is for you. I won't give away any more details or what happens to Tom. You'll just have to read it for yourself.

The Flying Tire Incident

Kristy had mentioned before and during Girl's Camp that we should go out to eat as a celebration and treat that Friday night. I was all for it and thought that Coasta Vida would be the best place to sit and get full. I passed this idea on to Shonda (our Camp Director) and she loved it and soon all the leaders (and their families) were invited to come and eat and relax and of course laugh about our Freaking Magical time at Girl's Camp.

The meal was awesome (as always) and the company was just as awesome. We had a good time going over all the details of camp. When the meal ended we all got in the car and it was decided that we should hit Stone Cold Creamery for an ice cold treat. But as we drove up the busy street we begun to hear this strange thumping sound. Now this sound was not the sound that my mechanic had warned me about. This was in between that thumping noise. And it got worse and worse as we got closer to Stone Cold. Finally, I turned into an empty parking lot worried that my car was going to collapse. Kristy thought that perhaps we got a flat tire but after inspection we saw nothing. So I decided that we should turn back home and call my mechanic and have him take a look at it. Instead of getting some ice cream and instead of going down Main Street we took a different route home. 

The noise was still getting louder and so I was taking it extra slow because I was not sure if our car would make it home. As we passed a busy intersection and past the middle school we suddenly dropped to the ground. We heard a crash and our car felt like it collapsed to the ground. I slowly pulled off the road to the side and saw my tire screaming down the road.

Seriously, it was moving like a bat out of hell. I looked back at Kristy and her eyes widened. We got out of the car and I looked back and saw that my back left tire and suddenly ejected itself from my vehicle. I looked down the road to see if it was still going and I saw these people coming out of their house and looking off of their porch. There is no way that my tire could have ended up there. I looked at Kristy and she knew, she saw the tire hit a boulder and take flight and almost crash into a house!

I wish that was a skid mark made by a rubber tire.

The tire ended up past that first telephone pole.

This is the house it almost smashed into. It hit those boulders right in front and took off.

That black mark on the first rock is from my tire. 

We ran across the road and up the block to that house and sure enough, our tire was resting comfortably in a smashed flower bed, inches from the house. They saw us and saw our car down the street. I apologized to them but they were more worried about our health. They asked us a couple of times if we were okay. And we were, we were not injured in any way. In fact, it was pretty funny and I busted up as I told them what happened. I asked them if I could use their phone so I could call for help. Unfortunately Lynn was gone and my dad was at work and I didn't know any other numbers. I thought about calling Jennifer and Justin but I could not remember their phone number. Didn't I learn my lesson? I remembered the last 4 digits and Kristy remembered the first three and I was able to call. Justin left right away to come and help me.

It smashed this flower bed just inches away from the porch. The people thought something exploded in their basement. I wish I could have seen their faces when they found a tire in their front yard!

Our car was by the second house you see starting from the left side across the street.

Some people were moving out of their house and they saw the whole thing. In fact, one of the kids exclaimed "That was the funniest thing I have ever seen!" They came to my rescue and helped me put the tire back on. Luckily we found all the lugnuts. They were surprised that there was little damage down to my car and to the tire. They were so nice enough that they allowed Logan to use their bathroom! (of course he would have to go at this moment... ...maybe this incident scared the pee out of him) Justin arrived and he followed me back to my house.

I decided to call my mechanic and tell him what happened. He must not have tightened the lugnuts and he came right over feeling really bad. So I had him take a look at it and he thought they looked alright as well (I am getting another opinion just to be sure) and he helped Justin and I fix the other thumping noise. Now I could have been really angry but there was not a lot to be mad at. It was a miracle really. If God intended us to lose this tire than he sure made it so it was as painless as possible. The tire crossed a busy street and didn't hit anyone, the car is alright, we are not injured, we found all the lugnuts, the tire didn't hit the house. We were lucky blessed that our tire didn't cause any more damage than it did. It could have been far worse. 

We even took the car to Salt Lake the next morning and it drove just perfect. I will say that every time I hit a pothole or something, it made me a bit on edge. And I will make sure my lugnuts are tightened everyday! 

Did I Scare You?

Day 361

It is no secret that I love to scare people. My dad, wife, sister and kid can all attest to that. I love watching people get scared as well. I don't mind too much when it happens to me either. I don't know why but I like the feeling of fear.

Before serving my LDS mission I had the greatest opportunity to put the scare into people. I had just come home early from working at Pepperidge Farms and I noticed that Damond and his friend Tyge was out in Damond's driveway talking. I stopped to chat with them and they were planning their date for that evening. They invited me along but I was dirty and tired and so I politely declined. Then Tyge asked me if I would be interested in wearing a gorilla suit and scaring the crap out of their dates.

Like I would turn down an invitation like that.

So they told me that they would be up the canyon at the Guineva camping ground around 7-7:30. I took the costume and went home and showered and ate and then got ready to go. I wore the suit down (except for the mask) and by the time I got there it was already getting dark. I spotted Damond's car so I knew that they were close. And then I could hear Tyge telling this spooky story by the campfire. Damond was there with his date (I think it was Brenea) and Tyge was there was Damond's sister Denise. I put on my mask and crept down towards them. I hid behind a tree and was only a few feet away from the group. I peered around the corner to get myself familiar with my surroundings and then I made my move.

I jumped from out beside the tree and landed with a loud roar and crashed right in front of the them. What I didn't expect is that the gorilla mask shifted too. It fell down further off my face and masked my eyes so I couldn't see that clearly. But that didn't stop me. I ran towards Damond and ran gut first right into the picnic table! And that made me mad so I screamed at the top of my lungs.

I definitely scared them. Tyge spotted me right before I jumped out but Damond had no idea I was there and even though he knew I was coming, I still scared him. All I could see of him was that he was crawling over his date. One of the girls (and I think it was Denise) screamed very loudly. Finally they all noticed Tyge laughing and the gig was up. I took off my mask and I am surprised that the girls didn't kill me. I stayed for a few minutes longer and chatted with them before I went home.

Yoinks!

But before I went home I decided to have a little more fun with the costume. I walked past the bathrooms and noticed that some girls that were going into the bathroom. So I waited for them to come out to give them a scare. I thought that I was being really nice because I wouldn't scare the pee out of them since I let them use the bathroom first. I stayed just off the path and barely in the moonlight when they came out. They got closer to me so I stepped in the moonlight and just on to the path. Just enough that the girls saw a hairy outline. They stopped right in there tracks and pointed right at me. "What is that? Is that someone?" They called out. I said nothing and then I moved a bit closer and more on the pathway. It didn't take them long to scream and bolt! I thought about chasing them but I thought that would be too mean.

But I was not done. As I was walking back to my car I saw a family sitting around the campfire and thought I could scare them as well. I put my mask on and ran into their campground and grunted and yelled. I ran right towards the family and jumped right over the campfire and kept running. I could hear a plethora of screams behind me. I laughed and laughed and took my mask off as I got to my car. As I was getting in I thought about how foolish this could have been. That dad could have caught me and beaten me to a pulp. But what was done was done. So I hopped in my car and drove out to the highway. As I was driving down the highway I passed a cop car that had his lights on. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw them pull into that camp ground.

I wonder if they were after me? I drove home and thought I should cruise main street in Logan with my mask on. I got a ton of second looks. Sometimes they would see me and tell the others in the car to look over and I would take my mask off before they could look.

I also drove up to USU and stopped by to see a few girls and of course scare them.

I wish I had a gorilla suit. 

The Spider

Day 325 (Wow! That means I only have 40 more blogs to write to complete the year!)

Yesterday we had our second Aragog sighting.

For those that don't know, Aragog was the large spider character from the Harry Potter books and it seems like his American descendants live here right outside my home. Typically we get about 5-10 of these large visitors but this year we have been very fortunate to have only had two. I blame the large snake that stalks our house.*

We were coming home from going shopping and I was opening the door with my key when suddenly Kristy uttered this fearful noise. She claimed it was not a scream, and it wasn't one exactly but it was still some sort of yell. I knew right away that it was some sort of insect. Either a large spider or something that will sting me. So I turned away from the door ducking my head and proceeded to run over my son.

I can handle any type of bug or vermin. Snakes? No prob. Wasps? No prob. Mice? No prob. Spiders? HUGE problem.

On the top of our door was an Aragog. I remember that I had left the back door opened so Logan and I retreated there. Kristy grabbed a stick and knocked him off the door and then she bravely stabbed it and retreated danced away.

She didn't see that the spider jumped up after she poked it and it ran right in the crevasse of the door. Logan came out with the bug spray and I doused it. So far we have not recovered his body. That is because we are too afraid to look.

*True story. We have a snake that lives around our home.

The Moose

Day 208

I used to own a bow back before I served my LDS mission and I would participate in a league. Every Saturday I would meet my dad and his friend and we would shoot the bow. I learned to be pretty good at shooting and even won a trophy for 2nd place in my age division.

Just ignore my hideous hair. If I had hair like that now I would get a better haircut.

But the bow was not just for recreational shooting it was meant to hunt. Every other Saturday or so we would go up to a special place up in the mountains to shoot our bows. Only this time there would be various animal dummies at different distances. That was a lot of fun, drinking Dew and hiking around the mountains looking for fake animals to shoot.

And then finally we all went hunting. I have been hunting a couple of times before but that was with a gun. This time I would be going with a bow and by myself. My dad and his friend would take a different mountain to hike and we would each have our own watering hole.

Now let me tell you, my experience with hunting deer with a gun was a completely different experience than with my bow. Instead of freezing my butt off, I was nice and toasty (since the bow deer hunt is earlier) and you do not have to fight other hunters. I was the only guy on that mountain. Just me and the animals. And there were a lot more animals than I thought there would be.

We set me up with a ground stand about twenty yards from the watering hole. I had a clear shot to it. I sat in front of a tree and was decked out in full camo. You have to be extremely quiet and still and patient when bow hunting. So I would sit and watch. But it was peaceful and you can really be alone with your thoughts.

What I found to be real interesting was watching the animals take turns to go to the watering hole. I noticed first that the smaller animals (mice, squirrels) would go first and then the larger animals would take their turn. So I knew eventually that a buck (male deer) could be heading my way. You would think that you might get bored waiting and waiting (you would be up there waiting for hours) but you don't. I remember that I was entertained by a pair of mice that would run around my hiking boots. One would try to pull my laces while the other run chased it. I also had a squirrel that would run along the branch right behind me.

Then a deer came into the watering hole. I was elated. I got myself ready and watched the deer come in. But it was just a doe (a deer! a female deer!) and it brought with it two little baby deer. I could take a doe but it had fawns so I just watched them take turns drinking. The mom watched first as her little ones drank and then cautiously she bowed her head and drank while her kids played. It was a lot of fun watching the kids play. They ran all over the place and at one point was only a few feet in front of me. While the mom was drinking one of the baby deer ran into the other and crashed into it sending it into a bush making a loud sound. It frightened the mom and she instinctively called for her kids which in turn scared them. I thought it was pretty funny that they were all scared especially since it was one of her kids that made the noise that scared them.

They eventually left and I looked up on the mountain and saw a large black thing walking. I thought it was a cow because there were some cows around from a rancher. But it was not a cow at all. It was something much larger and far more scary than a cow. And it wasn't a bear either.

It was a MOOSE!

He looked like this fella. Not one of the largest racks on a moose but still one big enough to serve me dinner on.

So here I am just minding my own business when I suddenly heard this huge crashing noise coming from the right! This moose just came crashing through like it owned the watering hole. It didn't care what was in its way at all. This was perhaps the largest animal I have ever seen and I was getting a personal view. It had a pretty large rack and it positioned itself right in front of me, only ten to twenty yards away from me. It leaned down and slurped up the water like a noisy vacuum. My heart was beating so fast. I was amazed and at the same time quite intimidated by this animal.

And then it stopped drinking and used its huge honker of nose to sniff the air. And then it turned and looked right at me! It knew I was there, he couldn't see me but he knew I was there. It sniffed a few more times and I was beginning to feel a little worried. And then it went back to drinking and I felt better. I was beginning to relax just a little when it stopped drinking and looked right at me again. But this time he took a couple of steps in my direction. I could feel my heart beat and my blood boil. It walked closer to me and was sniffing me out.

I wish it was only Bullwinkle. I would have had a hoot talking with him.

I had to make a decision and I had to make it quick. The moose knew I was there and was determined to figure me out. It took another couple of steps closer. I am sure the moose was wondering just what the heck I was. It was so close that I could have taken my arrow and smacked it on the nose. And that thought did cross my mind which was then followed up by me imagining the moose trampling me to pieces. So I slowly took my arrow and wiggled the small suckling beside me. I definitely got its attention and it backed off a little bit. I continued to strike the tree until he was back at the watering hole.

I was thinking that I was safe but that feeling didn't last long at all. It again came towards me but this time it seemed a little more brave. It was not being cautious anymore, it wanted to figure me out. So I decided to go all out. I knocked my arrow in my bow and jumped to my feet and called out to the moose making a huge racket as I did. I must have called that moose every dirty, filthy name in the book and I was ready to shoot it if I had too. And luckily, I didn't. It stayed for a few minutes backing down but it still kept his eyes on me. Finally it took off up the mountain. I must have spooked it good and I knew that it was that black thing I spotted coming down the mountain earlier.

It was time for me leave anyway and I honestly didn't want to be there anymore too. As I was packing my stuff up something came up behind me. It was a large Elk and it snorted at me too. I was outta there! I ran down to the truck to meet my dad and his friend.

I would go up to the same watering hole the next week. I'll blog about what happened then later.

So get this. I am at my dad's writing this and we were remembering and he told me that he was visited by a mom moose and a couple of calves at that same watering hole. But then he told me another story that I have never heard. He and his friend went up there and my dad was at the same watering hole. Only this time he was not hunting so he had no weapons and no camo. And he was sitting there when he saw something that looked like a fox come in only it was larger. It was a mountain lion! He watched it circle the watering hole and take a drink and my dad felt the same way I did. Amazed and scared. And then the cougar decided to take a siesta. It plopped down and rested while my dad watched. And it was getting dark. Luckily it got up and left and my dad scrambled down the mountain.

The Lake Alice Adventure

Day 194

By now you should know that I am not much of a camper but I will venture into the wilderness every once in awhile. This time it was back when I was in 9th-10th grade and we went out as a Scout Troop to Lake Alice in Wyoming.

Now I was not much of a Scout either. I would rarely attend meetings but I thought this week sounded pretty fun so I decided to go. Most of the guys in my church ward were going and it did sound like a lot of fun.

The trip to Lake Alice seemed to take forever and we were all rowdy. I felt bad for Tavis's dad who volunteered to drive and come with. We must have drove him nuts. He was especially cranky when it came to all the road work. We would be driving maybe 2 miles an hour as they paved a new road. The heat was already unbearable but add fresh asphalt to the mix and we were getting all cranky.

But we finally got to Lake Alice and it was nice and cool. It was a real beautiful area. It was about a 2 mile hike to get to the lake so we had to carry our canoes the whole way. We left the canoes up there so we didn't have to drag them up to the lake everyday. Lake Alice was created by a massive landslide resulting in a lake that is three miles long and over 200 feet deep. Rumor has it that Lake Alice got its name from a little girl named Alice that drowned in the lake.

The first night didn't help my attitude about camping. It rained that night and day and unfortunately Damond and I put up our tent right in the middle of a depression so our tent and stuff was fully flooded. It took almost the whole night to get my pillow dry as I sat by the campfire. But as time went on I began to enjoy my time at Lake Alice.

One of the things we did was we made a homemade zip line. It worked really well and went down a rocky embankment down about thirty feet. We used a branch/log to hold on to while we zipped down until Dusty broke it. It wasn't his fault really, the rope burned through the wood and made it weak and he crashed down onto the rocks making a horrible wet thumping noise. His back was really scraped up.

But the thing I remember the most about this trip was the bear. Or the moose. Maybe it was just a deer. Or maybe it was Sasquatch or the Wendigo. We don't know what the heck that thing was.

We were up at the lake doing some fishing and it became quite dark. The leaders were back at camp and all of us scouts were up at the lake. It got so dark that we could barely see the shoreline as we canoed in. Suddenly up by the shore we saw this large black shadow moving toward the lake. And it stopped right where we come up onto shore! We couldn't tell what it was, the only thing we knew was that it was HUGE. We paddled closer and we shined our flashlights at it and then we caught its eyes. These yellow eyes that stared back at us. And each yellow eye was far apart from the other so this creature must have been huge. Tavis began to paddle closer saying "It's just a deer, it's just a deer!" and then he would suddenly change his mind and paddle right back out yelling, "That's a bear! That's gotta be a bear!" He repeated this a couple of more times. "Okay, I think it is a baby moose." And he would paddle in closer. And sure enough we would get closer and he would paddle back quickly, "That's a freaking bear!" Damond started to throw his fish guts at it which didn't make sense to me. He wanted to scare the creature away and if it was a bear, why would you throw fish at it, essentially feeding it?

Finally it left and we paddled to the shore and quickly got our stuff together. Tyler took the fish and said he would carry them for us and lead us down the trial. He would throw the fish at the bear (if we came across one) and we would then run. The rest of us scouts armed ourselves with paddles. And we ran almost the whole way home. I don't think I have ever gone 2 miles more quickly than I did that night. And we sang songs, anything to to be loud and get our minds off of being eaten by some horrible creature of the night. We got back to camp safely and the first thing our leaders asked us was why we carried the paddles back to camp.

By the time we came home I think everyone was tired of everyone else. Spending a week together was more than some could handle and our leaders were really happy to come home. I think they got tired of our endless chatter and pranks and doing stupid stuff. One of our leaders was getting frustrated with our trailer of canoes, he kept trying to line them up and was about to lose it. He couldn't tell from his rear view mirror if he was backing up correctly so he decided to roll down his window and look out himself. Tyler knew he was going to do this so he rolled down his window (he was sitting right behind him) and stuck his head out just as our leader looked back. Tyler scared the crap out of him and our leader was so mad. I don't think we dared talk or laugh for at least an hour after.

Did I Scare You?

Day 192

One of my favorite past times is scaring the holy hell out of people. I don't know why I love to do it but I must have learned it early on in my life. I used to love to scare my dad and my sister Jennifer a lot. I will have to blog about the time I scared my sister really good.

Just the other night I was in the computer room working and Kristy was about to go to bed. I had to go to the bathroom so I thought I better get upstairs before she did. She was still downstairs and I knew that if I ran full speed into the living room it would frighten her. And sure enough, I took off from the computer and ran right past her and it did scare her. She even lifted her leg up like they do in those cartoons.

Impromptu scares are the greatest. But sometimes if you do a little planning you can come up with a fantastic frightfest! I remember one time fondly where I totally scared the crap out of my soon-to-be-sister-in-law Raelene.

It was Thanksgiving weekend and Kristy and I were staying at Kristy's mom's house. We were flying out to Arizona to see the New York Jets play (that will be another blog post later) and we were just hanging around. Eric's girlfriend came over and they planned on watching a movie in his room. They invited me to watch the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre and I decided to watch it along with them. It got pretty hot in his room so Eric opened his window and I saw an opportunity.

I embarrassingly asked if they could pause the movie so I could use the bathroom. They did and I left the bedroom and ran into Kristy. I quickly told her to go into the bathroom and turn and make some noises. While she did that I slipped outside and ran into the backyard. I started to giggle as I was about to jump up into the window. I took a deep breath and composed myself and hopped up and struck the window with my hand and screamed.

And then I heard a horrible scream and I knew I scared the crap out of Raelene. It was one of those screams that you hear in those types of movies. I hurried back inside just as Kristy was flushing the toilet. I walked back into the bedroom acting like nothing happened. I asked why she was screaming and I got slugged hard in my arm.

But it was so worth it.

Tornado!

Day 180

It is well documented that I have a love/hate relationship with tornadoes. On one hand I am absolutely enthralled by them. How can something so destructive be so hypnotic and almost beautiful? To me they are one of the most fascinating things of nature and I would love to see one live on a tornado tour. I would love to study them.

But on the other hand I am deathly afraid of them. Seriously. I cannot see pictures or videos of them when I am alone. I dream of them often (at least I know how to deal with them) and even talking about them by myself at the computer is freaking me out a little. I really think I have a deep-seeded primal fear of them.

But yet they are so neat.

I don't think I would have such a fear/fascination with them if I didn't experience them firsthand. When I lived in Edmonton years ago, Edmonton was struck by killer tornadoes and not that far off from my home. And I remember that day like it happened only a few years ago. On July 31, 1987 (known as Black Friday) Edmonton was hit by a series of tornadoes which claimed 27 lives and injured more than 300. It happened right in the middle of the afternoon around 3:30.

For the last couple of nights we were treated to these amazing and large lightning storms. I remember I would sit in my sister's room and look out the window and watch the lightning travel all throughout the clouds lighting the sky in the night. We didn't suspect a thing.

The next day my mom and I went out shopping. We went and got my haircut and we stopped at the local comic store to pick up some new books. In fact, I remember exactly what I got.

It all comes down to comic books for me right? But this was one of the issues I picked up before the tornado hit.

During my haircut a huge rainstorm hit and dumped a ton of water and it became intensely stormy. We headed home and it was really coming down. My sister was at work and my dad was out at work too. So my mom asked me if I wanted to come with her to her job or stay home. I didn't want to go out in the weather but I didn't want to be home alone and just then my dad came home. I was so glad to see him. So my mom went off to work and I stayed home with my dad. I went downstairs to play some hockey and read my new comics and we saw that our basement had water coming into it. So my dad mopped it up and we decided to go upstairs and turn on the TV to see what the weather was doing.

We turned on the TV and we saw this large tornado on the screen. My dad and I looked at each other in awe and my dad wondered aloud "I wonder where that is?" Then the newscaster said it was a tornado in Leduc. I turned to my dad with my eyes probably bugging out of my head. Leduc was a city just south of Edmonton. Then the newscaster told everyone that Edmonton was under a tornado warning.

I jumped from my chair and I grabbed my hamster and my sister's rabbit and headed downstairs in a flash. I ran back upstairs and grabbed my comics. If I was going to be stuck downstairs I might as well have something to do. My dad stayed upstairs and eventually came downstairs to finish cleaning up the rain water. Luckily the rain had stopped but the wind had really picked up. Dad then told me that he was going to go outside to check things out. I didn't want him too but I ventured upstairs with him. I watched my dad look around at the sky from my sister's bedroom window. I didn't like watching so I went into my bedroom and got my stereo boom box so I could take that downstairs with me. As I was fidgeting with the power cord (it was stuck between the wall and my desk) my dad came rushing into the house yelling.

"IT'S COMING! IT'S COMING!"

This book contains all the information and a ton of picture of the Edmonton tornado. I rarely crack open that book to look at the pictures.

I yanked my stereo cord away from the wall (dumping my whole art desk down) and pushed past my dad and leaped down the stairs and hid under the stairs FREAKING out! Dad did not follow me down. I didn't even hear him coming down the stairs and I started to panic. I yelled for my dad and he didn't come down the stairs. So I grasped my knees and waited for "it" to come.

Finally my dad came down the stairs nonchalantly, like he was out on a stroll. I yelled for my dad telling him to take cover. And my dad calmly says to me: "Do you hear it? It is raining again." I was confused; I thought the tornado was coming. But my dad meant that the rain was coming again. If I wasn't so paralyzed in fear I would have killed him.

The storm began to weaken and we ventured upstairs again to watch the news. I called my mom at work and told her about the tornado and she thought I was only kidding until some guy came in and told her the same thing. She closed down the office and came home. My mom recounted her harrowing trip to her job. She said it got pitch black and she saw things twirl around in the air around her car and the car ahead of her. She felt the car rock with the wind and suddenly it left as quickly as it came. We think she drove through the tornado or the remnants of the tornado. We traced her path and it put her right in the path of the tornado. I am so glad that I didn't go with her. I would have died!

That night we watched the news and we went out to the movies. Jennifer and mom saw Dragnet and my dad and I saw the new Bond movie, The Living Daylights.

I will never forget that day. The next day we went and toured the areas of damage and it was so amazing that the wind could be so powerful and we were lucky that the tornado didn't strike closer to our home.

Fight or Flight?

Day 116

Gosh I just love watching Celebrity Fit Club. I can always count on being entertained. This week's episode talked about conquering fear. So one of the obstacles the teams had to do was to escape a prison. They were all chained together and they had to beat down and cement wall, climb in a tunnel up a hill that was loaded with cement blocks and then the last part would FREAK ME OUT! They got out of the chains and they had to climb this tower. Okay heights and I are not friends but that was not the worst part. They had two attack dogs chase them and attack them. So you had to get a teammate up on top of this tower and they would send out a rope ladder. And you had to get your butt up there before the dogs came. But you could also run into this cage if you could not make it up the ladder in time. K-Fed (one of my favorite contestants) saw the dogs and couldn't get up the ladder so he bolted to the cage. The funny part was that he made it into the cage but the dogs got in too and mauled him. The dogs did have muzzles on them but still. Dogs and I are not friends at all. The best part is watching the reactions. I about coughed up my candy bar when I saw Sebastian do this:

You totally need to read VH1's blog about this show.

Later in the episode Harvey took Bobby Brown and made him conquer his fear of heights. It was pretty awesome.

So the question is fight or flight? Would you fight the dogs off as much as you could to make it up the tower or would you run? I posed this question to my wife Kristy and I should have known what she would have said about me.

And I thought I better blog about it before Kristy has a chance to do it. A few years ago I was in our den on the computer. I had just gotten up and was going to leave the room when Kristy skipped in. I didn't hear or see her. She yelled out something (it was probably "hi" or something like that) and it scared the blue hell out of me!

So... fight?
or flight?
I guess my gut reaction is to fight. Because I leaned back away from her and punched her in the head with my left fist. Now it wasn't hard at all, it was like I was pushing her away with my fist in slow motion. She had me cornered, I had no where to go! The funny thing is that my brain told me it was Kristy and I knew it was her but my brain also said "PUNCH HER!" Like I said, she was barely hurt, I was more scared than anything else and I was trying to get away.

So be aware. I will fight when confronted.