Glen Beckwith, a close friend from my time at Auburn, hails from Kissimmee, just a few miles south of Orlando. I'm convinced there must have been something in the town's air or water, or maybe he just got a sprinkling of fairy dust from living in the shadow of the Kingdom of the Mouse, because the stories he told defied belief or just made us howl with laughter.
He once recounted the tale of a family friend who found himself out on the backroads of rural central Florida at the tail end of an arduous day. Behind the wheel since just after breakfast, it was now dark, his headlights and the waning moon providing the only light on the country road. Hoping to come across a motel for the past few hours, the only thing he'd encountered were cornfields and more cornfields.
It was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open, and he was starting to weave across the lane. Suddenly a figure darted in front of his car, and he had to swerve hard to avoid impact. The car left the road and came to a stop when he spun out into a corn field.
He quickly turned in his seat and looked out his rear window but didn't see anything. All other views were obstructed as it was late in the season, and the corn had grown in full and tall. "That looked like...," he scratched his head. "But that's ridiculous." He rubbed his eyes in an attempt to erase what he'd just seen. "That's enough driving for you, Old Boy." Motel or no motel, he decided to sleep where he was. Late night hallucinations while driving were not a good thing.
He woke to someone tapping on his window. Opening his eyes, he saw a farmer peering at him through the glass. "Hey, fella, you all right?" Shaking off the grogginess, he stepped out and stretched in the morning air. "Yeah, Mister, I'm fine. Sorry about parking in your field. I figured I better stay off the road after I started seeing things last night." This piqued the farmer's interest. "Oh, yeah? What'd you see?"
He scratched his head replaying what he saw. Did it actually happen or was it just a weird dream brought on exhaustion? "I could have sworn I saw a rooster run across the road - but he was wearing boxers."
"Oh. So you've met Henry."
"Wait. What? Henry?"
"Yep. Henry. He's my rooster."
"You have a rooster named Henry?"
"Yep."
"And Henry wears boxers?"
"Yep. He tangled with a fox that got into the chicken coop. Henry fought him off, but that fox tore out all his tail feathers."
"So now Henry wears boxers?"
"Yep. The wife sewed him up a pair so he wouldn't get sunburned."
Tom Petty released "Running Down a Dream" in 1989. It did well, peaking at number 23. Like Glen, Tom grew up in the Sunshine State. One summer during his childhood, Tom spent time in Ocala where he met Elvis during one of his film shoots. That was a seminal moment for 10 year old Tom, inspiring him on to his future career. While criss crossing country roads in the shadow of Kingdom of the Mouse, I wonder if Tom ever met Henry.
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