Imagination running wild

I must say, I love the cooler weather. I've always been a sweatshirt and shorts kinda guy, so when the leaves begin to fall, I know it's time to break out the hoodie. Another great thing about having the cooler weather is having a relaxing fire after a long day's work.

I love to listen to my iPod while I'm relaxing, but sometimes that simple enjoyment backfires.

I tend to listen to some funny podcast, but a lot of the podcasts I listen to are paranormal or supernatural in nature. You know, Bigfoot, UFOs, ghosts -- all the stuff you want to be listening to in the wee hours of the morning by yourself in the dark outside.

Most people put up a brave front and won't admit when they get spooked, but not too long ago that's precisely what happened to me.

While sitting out by the fire one night, I was listening to a show about Bigfoot and it began talking about an incident a woman had where a creature was at the property line of her house, just on the edge of a corn field. I continued listening, when I noticed I was sitting on the property line of my house on the edge of a cornfield with a small fire.

I attempted to put it out of my mind, but as hard as I tried, I found myself taking peeks at the swaying corn. Did I get spooked? You bet.

There was nothing jumping out at me or making any suspicious noises, but the thought of something standing just inside the corn looking at me preoccupied my thoughts. But the greatest part of the experience was yet to come.

Fighting the urge to walk back to the house, I sat for bit longer, but the hour was getting late, so off went the iPod. I snuffed out my fire, was covered in darkness, when I heard it. A rustling in the corn.

It wasn't the stalks swaying in the breeze, there was something moving in the corn. I stopped and focused my ears on the field. There it was. A crackle, crackle that sounded closer and closer. Then it was gone.

I began to walk to the house, turning my back on the field and then it was there again and coming fast. Now it was more of a swishing, crackle, as the sound grew closer. Expecting to see a large hairy creature emerge from the field, I steadied myself.

And for all those doubters, a large hairy creature did in fact reveal itself. Albeit, it was large black dog looking for a friend, but it was larger than most dogs and certainly hairy.

So the lesson I learned was listening to a podcast in the dead of night about creatures you might not want to me face to face under the circumstance isn't a good idea.

The other thing I learned? I'm more of a chicken that I previously thought.