When I was a Lad in the 70s (Yes, I’m that old) I can remember actually reading books. Of course there was no interweb back then, so in order to learn about the world in my little town (Other than Redneck Culture) we had to go to the Library.

Where did my interests lie? Well, that’s interesting in itself. Up until about the age of  15 it was cryptids, sharks and UFOs. After that I really got into psychology and spent a great deal of time studying the magazine Psychology Today. I was also an artist so I often put my thoughts down on canvas or in some other medium. However I’ll never forget those innocent days where it was hard to argue with a fantastic tale about Extraterrestrials or a book about some encounter with a 30 ft Great White. After all, who was there to argue the point? On top of that these authors were so convincing that it had to be true….At least some of it, right? Right?

I’ll never forget that Saturday Matinée in 1975. I was 12 at the time and Jaws was playing at Dipson’s Theater on Main Street. I actually had the nerve to go by myself and sit right in the front row, big mistake! Seems a large group of young ladies decided to sit in row two, directly behind me. It was frightening enough to me without 8 girls erupting in ear drum splitting, glass shattering screams at least 20 times during the course of the film. I can still remember actually separating entirely from my soda and imitation butter soaked seat with every hair on my body rising to attention every time the girls would react. On top of everything else they also propped their feet up on the seats in front of them including mine. This was like having the sensory experience that is built into theaters today. In fact theaters could save a great deal of money by just allowing young girls into scary movies for free just to provide such effects. After seeing Jaws I was obviously terrified of going into the ocean (as many around the nation were). The good aspect of it all was that I lived hundreds of miles from the nearest Atlantic coast, therefore I developed a false sense of safety. That is until the first foray of the summer to the lake where I decided that anything touching my leg in the water must be a renegade shark that somehow miraculously found a way to get into a body of fresh water, again hundreds of miles from the ocean.

To move on, that film is what actually launched my reading stint. I first read all I could about sharks. Then when that dried up I moved to various Sea Serpents. Hey, if it wasn’t a shark touching my leg then maybe it was Nessie….What! It could happen! After that I got heavily into Bigfoot. The Legend of Boggy Creek was a film that I had seen at the Drive In a couple of years before and it left quite an impression. As the mentality of earlier statements suggest this was an obvious documentary to me. I was reading tales of  Sasquatch about the same time as my first hunting experience. Of course I was always with an adult those first couple of years plus I had a gun in hand so I wasn’t all that frightened, that is as long as my dad was always within 15 ft. The first time he decided to take a walk and left me standing next to a tree things began to happen. Stumps took on a different profile, tree branches looked like arms and hands. Even worse, it started to snow heavily and I knew that Ol’ Sassy was going to use the cover of falling snow to sneak up behind me and give me a Wet Willie, a wedgie or something worse. Believe it or not I actually made it thru my almost encounters with Footy to live another day. Bigfoot has remained one of my favorite topics to this day. Of course I’m not as convinced that he’s out there as I was then.

After Bigfoot I read several books on UFOs and Aliens. Surprisingly it had nothing to do with the Star Wars movie that had come out in 1977. Yea, 1977! Now who’s getting old?! I remember one of the first books I read was Chariots of the Gods by Erich von Däniken. He certainly made some very good points and as usual I could find nothing to refute his theories. When I see him on TV today I often chuckle to myself as I consider whether he’s actually sane or not. This is not to say that I don’t believe in any of that stuff. I do see the possibilities but I’m more grounded in analysis these days. I certainly think the odds are very high when considering the possibility of other intelligent life in the universe. Unfortunately nothing has yet convinced me that there are aliens flying technologically advanced spaceships in our airspace. Once while hunting (Again with the hunting? Cut me a break! There was little else going on!), I thought I saw something fly across the valley. I was sitting up in a tree stand pondering how I was going to have a sexual encounter…..With a girl that is, when I looked up almost as if someone told m….LOLOL! OK, there was no telepathic connection, I just happen to look up. It was around dusk and I saw this thing moving silently along. It seemed to take about 1/3 the time to cross as a typical jet. It was then I decided that there must be aliens behind the trees so I decided it was time to hike back out to civilization. When I say hike what I really mean is run. If they were going to probe me they’d have to catch me first and I knew….of Karate. I forgot that I also used to read about Bruce Lee and watch Martial Arts movies. Something tells me that I likely wouldn’t even get to let out a Karate Hi-Ya and I’d be strapped to a metal table. I really never told anyone about that but to tell the truth it was no more than a dot in the sky.

Actually, one of my most thrilling adventures was whilst reading about Werewolves and such. I was about 15 and decided, you guessed it, to go hunting. I figured to get an early start so I planned on staying in my friends cabin about 2 mile (<–redneck lingo) back in the mountains. I already lived close to the tree line so I wasn’t far from the deep woods. We got a late start and headed up the lease road about 10 pm. It was pitch dark out but we had made this trek so many times that walking it in the dark was no big trick to us. My friend had related how a pack of wild feral dogs had attacked him the day before and if not for his Collie mix Shep breaking his chain my friend would have been done. As we walked I was getting more and more nervous. I mean, these dogs had to be somewhere, right? As we neared the Pumphouse (A pumphouse is a building with a big compressor that powered the rod lines all over the mountain. This in turn made the oil jacks pump.), My buddy happen to turn on his flashlight and shine it up ahead. Suddenly we see a set of shiny eyes silently  looking back at us. I don’t have to tell you that I felt a warm wet trickle down my leg. Since I did have a 12 gauge shotgun with me for hunting I decided it was high time I used it. My friend was not so quick to pass judgment. I can still remember saying: I’m going to shoot! I’m going to shoot! He kept saying: No, no, not yet. We got to within 20 yds. of this unknown creature only to realize that it was his cat perched up on top of a big slab of concrete. After that false alarm I was keyed up but relieved as we made it to the cabin. Unfortunately we didn’t sleep well as we could hear the dogs running up and down along the rodline ride aways howling and yowling all night. To top it off, the next day this pack followed me for 5 miles while I hunted. They stayed just far enough away so I couldn’t shoot any of them. Needless to say, I certainly read my next Werewolf book with renewed interest.

Many strange things occurred during my youth but as I look back I’m certain that a vast percentage of what I experienced had a lot to do with my imagination. I’d certainly love to hear your stories of days gone by, those innocent times of our youth when believing was so much easier. I think the young people of today are at a distinct disadvantage in some respects. They have answers instantly and have no reason to believe anything they can look up and debunk in a couple of mouse clicks. In fact I really believe that our imagination drove us to design, develop and invent the things that exist today. Can you remember your imagination, your dreams and of course those strange things you believed as a wide eyed child? Tell us about it, won’t you?