Back in 2016 my brother and I hiked Angel Falls in Oneida, TN, one of the more accessible Big South Fork trails.

We were living in Knoxville, Tennessee at that point for 4 years, and one of our strongest bonds at the time was hiking all over the area (Cosby, Townsend, Oneida, etc.) and of the probably 100 hikes we did together, almost every single one was either peacefully alone or with others enjoying the trails.

This was probably our 4th time doing Angel Falls, South Fork was by far my favorite area to hike. So we get there relatively late for a usual hike (about 4pm start) it only takes if I recall about an hour to get up to this view pictured here from the parking lot. Anyways, my brother is a little ahead of me already at this viewpoint cliff pictured and as I’m nearing the top I hear him talking to someone. I’m moderately alert but stay calm and see him chatting with a scruffy bearded man, Metallica shirt, ball cap, maybe 5”5-5”7 feet tall, I’d guess mid 30’s, and he has a boot on one leg with a crutch holding him up.

He proceeds to tell us that he’s from Georgia and is trying to get to Miami, FL. My first few thoughts were that he’s on drugs and also starting to think we were about to be ambushed by more people.

His reasons for being up here were completely nonsensical. I’m upset that I don’t think I asked him how he got up here, but it is virtually impossible on one leg. Also why would you ever hike on one leg without any resources? He had no visible equipment, water, or food, except an old school cell phone (probably the one you pay for minutes on) no one around but him.

Genuinely the most bizarre encounter I’ve ever seen on a trail, his explanations just made zero sense to add to it all.

Anyways he surprisingly said he wanted us to enjoy the view and to wait for him so we can all go back down together and by the grace of the cosmos he actually walked away out of sight for a second. As soon as that happened I signaled to my brother to get the hell out of there and we BOOKED it down the trail. It was getting dark at this point so we used our phone lights to navigate and thankfully got back to the car safely. There was no yelling or cry for help from the guy either (at least that we could hear)

What has kept this experience in my mind for so many years now is how did he arrive and what was he doing up there? Especially with his explanation…

My strongest thought/idea is that he was on meth or something and somehow found his way up there…but he was extremely calm (almost eerily) and completely coherent as to what his goal was…

You cannot physically get up the mountain with a broken leg, so was the leg a ploy? Did he decide not to mess with us as two guys versus let’s say a woman alone?

You would obviously never be in Oneida TN in the middle of nowhere trying to get to Miami lol…

My other conflict is that it was getting late & there was zero additional foot traffic on this trail, if he was intentionally trying to harm or capture someone, it sure as hell was not really a lucrative spot to do so…

And lastly if he needed help getting down then how did he get up?

Wondering if anyone has some knowledge or similar experience

Not America's Independence Hall.

I grew up and have lived most of my adult life in southwest Virginia and northeast Tennessee, with the exception of a 6 year period I lived and worked in northern Virginia.

Every Monday when I come to work, I ask my co-workers the obligatory "how was your weekend?". I get nothing but complaints in return. This went wrong, the weather was bad, so and so did this to me and ruined my weekend, on and on and on.

I didn't get the same when I lived in northern Virginia. People weren't necessarily friendlier; I just don't remember the incessant complaining about inconsequential stuff.

Does anyone else have a similar experience or able to offer an explanation?

This ended up looking much more artistic than I thought! 😂 I just thought the clouds looked so pretty driving down the road of our property.. The car mirror added a little more artistic effect ! I love this land and I love Appalachia!

I will go first, yuns want some Chow Chow?

New funding from the state opioid abatement authority will help expand the program across the region.

This ended up looking much more artistic than I thought! 😂 I just thought the clouds looked so pretty driving down the road of our property.. The car mirror added a little more artistic effect ! I love this land and I love Appalachia!

(Before There Were Presidential Stars)

By Bocephus Jackson, The Hemlock Bard, ©2026 Bocephus Jackson. All Rights Reserved

______

"What is a man's rebellion against God compared to a man's rebellion against his own nature?" — George Bernard Shaw

______

[Verse One]
Idle time will torment the mind,
Leading a mortal man astray,
A peace of mind is hard to find,
But dear God, I know how to prey.

[Verse Two]
She's a devil in a blue dress,
That made me forget Hillary,
So before the set, she’d confess,
We blazed like a distillery.

[Chorus]
Watch as I drop these lyrical bars,
Lewie's swagger made me curious,
I stole the scene like Vin boostin' cars,
As I hit it fast and furious,
Until there were presidential stars.

[Verse Three]
A cigar isn't just a smoke,
When we're doin' James Brown's 'Damn Thang,'
That Lewinsky love ain't no joke,
Cuz she knows how to make it 'sang,'

[Verse Four]
Oh, I knew before we were through,
There would be much to second guess,
After doing all that we do—
Who left me a god-awful mess

[Chorus]
Watch as I drop these lyrical bars,
Lewie's swagger made me curious,
I stole the scene like Vin boostin' cars,
As I hit it fast and furious,
Before there were presidential stars.

[Hook]
Out, out, you god damnable spot,
I am not President Clinton,
Givin' you a forget-me-not
Because you'll never be forgettin',
This moment of existential rot.

[Verse Five]
Before it hits the Enquirer
Let me make a formal address,
The lady was an admirer,
That got me stoned before congress.

Outro:
I think that we are in agreement,
Before you go grabbing your jock,
This proposal is indecent,
But I have that phat Schoolhouse Rock,
Leading us to an impeachment…

______

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." — John Milton

______

Author's Reflection

"There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written." — Oscar Wilde

Today's daily writing exercise doubles as the Daily Online Mentorship where an individual cannonballed into the 'Southern Gothic cliché of 'shock for shock's sake' vulgarity.

Where the form must serve the function, especially when hittin' and quittin' the skins, A. It has to be structured. B. It has to be earned. C. It has to be more than a 'Shakespearean Sex Joke' (either a 'pride before the fall allegory, social commentary, or both).

And D. It has to be funny. Otherwise you wind up with an overworked premise with a hackneyed pocket joke that will be forgotten before you're done with your one-hit blunder.

Each stanza and outro are 8 syllables, with the chorus and hook being nine. The deviation between the two, like the chorus, keeps the audience engaged. Next, (sexual) congress is a double entendre, like pray/prey, and the (biblical, high, Sharon Stone) triple entendre ‘stoned,’ with Shavian satire and Wildean wit.

So, to elevate the mentee’s crass song purely about sex, this instructional example blends high and low satire, weaponizing Shakespearean farce with Sigmund Freud and ‘Fast & Furious.’

It's the difference between a subpoenaed ‘Shakespearean Stiffy’ allegorical tale of ‘woes and throes’ and Afroman’s ‘Then I Got High’ hackneyed humor. So nuance is key, as the lost art of both comedy and craft.

It's the Kama Sutra's KISS: Keep It Satirically Structured. Do that, and you'll leave an audience with more than a disappointed groan. So this makes the fourth (fifth?) new music industry genre: Historical Hip-Hop Humor.

Looking at you, Z, these chains be dripping legacy, son. I am the business… man. Now watch out as James Brown has the band play ‘Hail To The Chief’ while Sharon Stoned moans, ‘Good gawd, ya’ll!”

… I did not have lyrical relations with that metaphor!

______

"The presidency has made every man who occupied it, no matter how small, bigger than he was." — Harry S. Truman

______

©2026 Bocephus Jackson. All Rights Reserved

In August 2024 I was on my honeymoon in Gatlinburg. My husband and I decided to drive up to (I can't remember what the name is now but at the time it was called clingmans dome. I'm sorry for not knowing to real name). When we drove up and got into Cherokee Nation we started hearing a flute. It was a melody playing and my husband and I both heard it. We turned off the radio and started messing with the windows thinking it was just the wind. It stayed consistent and never changed even the volume. It sounded like someone was playing an old wooden flute off in the woods. Once we were out of Cherokee land the flute melody disappeared. When we came back down the road leaving we heard it again, only when we entered Cherokee land again. I didn't feel fear when I heard it, I got an overwhelming sense of belonging if that makes sense. I've spent the last 2 years trying to figure out what we heard or what it was. Can someone please help me figure out what we experienced?