When Wild Places Feel Uncertain

SPEAKER_01 0:46

This is something that happens when you spend enough time in wild places. The world stops being a place of certainty and starts showing you it's just those moments where what you thought you knew stops making sense. Maybe it's a kind of sound you cannot place, a movement in the corner of your eye, or a story told by Firelight that refuses to leave you. The things we dismiss in daylight have a way of finding us when we are quite enough to listen. I'm your host Avik and this is Mind Mate's Machine, a space where we slow down, ask real questions, and explore what it means to be human in a world that's constantly shifting beneath our feet. Yeah. And today I'm with someone. Please welcome Robert. Robert Boers. So welcome, please Robert.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

Glad to be here. Thank you for having me on.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Thank you. Thank you so much, Robert, for being here. And there is like before we get into the discussion, I'll quickly uh introduce you with Robert. So he is a self-published author and storyteller whose work is born when a lifetime spent outdoors in places where the unexplained incident just the folklore. So it's something he's encountered firsthand. So I do not want to take much of a time. Let's get started. Welcome to the show again.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

Glad to be here.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

Yeah.

Skepticism And Why Curiosity Wins

SPEAKER_01 2:23

So Rob, like I mean a lot of people they think that writing about uh cryptids or kind of unexplained is kind of excapism or your fantasy. So something which is separate from the reality. So but your work seems grounded in actual experience. So what do you think people misunderstood about storytelling that lives in this phase between what we know and what we cannot explain?

SPEAKER_00 2:50

Well, I used to be a skeptic too, until I've had some strange things happen to me that just couldn't be explained by regular logical thoughts. I mean, just had some things happen that sometimes I was by myself. A lot of times I had people with me. There was more than one of us that seen or and experienced something that just made us, you know, what the what the heck was that? What what was that? What could that have been? What you know? And I think a lot of people are right to be skeptical, especially these days. There's so many fakes, there's so many, you know, with AI and Photoshop, different things like that. Excuse me, it's hard, it's hard not to be skeptical. And I am still skeptical for some for some things, but I still think, based on some of the things that have happened to me and some of the things that I've seen and heard, excuse me, that there are some things out there that just kind of defy logical explanation. And I don't know what they are, and I think a lot of people are the same way, but we want to know. People are curious. I know I am sometimes to a fault, sometimes it gets me in trouble. But I think people just have that people are just naturally curious, and they want to know what what the heck is it that people are seeing and hearing and experiencing. And you know, whether it's a cryptid, uh a UFO, maybe it's just something you hear, or something you smell, or maybe it's some tracks in the ground that just don't look like a normal animal. So I mean, people just have a curiosity, and I also think, you know, there's so many TV shows, movies, podcasts about some of these strange things that people have experienced, and it's hard to separate the wheat from the chaff, you know, the the true from the made up, I guess. And may and I I'm sure a lot there's a lot of misidentification. You know, people are seeing something and thinking it's something else, and that's probably happened to me.

The Night Bird And The Lady

SPEAKER_00 5:13

I mean, a friend of mine and I one night we saw well something dive bombed us at night, we were fishing, and my friend Dale swore that it was a pterodactyl. Now, what's more likely it was some kind of a big night bird like an owl or something like that. I didn't see it. All I saw was the shadow off the campfire and the lantern cast against the vegetation on the creek bank. Dale swore it was a pterodactyl. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. But then later on, you know, whatever it was, it didn't want us there. So we took the hint, we left, and when we were driving home, we encountered some lady, middle of the night, country road, dirt road, and she was dressed all in white, had long dark hair, and was standing beside the road in the middle of nowhere. And there was just something creepy about her. Her hair hung down over her face where you couldn't see her face really well. And I slowed way down and moved over and probably rolled past her about 10 miles an hour. And when we when we went past her, we're both looking out the window at her, and she just kind of turned her whole torso and followed us. And I stopped. And my buddy Dale was just freaking out. He's like, What are you doing? And I said, Well, I'm gonna see if she's all right, she needs some help. What's she doing out here in the middle of nowhere? And when I backed up, she was gone. And there was really no place for her to go, you know. There was in the middle of nowhere, she had this long white dress on. I I got out, looked around, went to the barbed wire fence on both sides of the ditch and hollered for her. She was just gone. And when we got back to town, we went up to the sheriff's office and our and reported it. And they sent a deputy out there to look around, and as soon as that deputy left, the dispatcher told us that we weren't the we weren't the first ones to see this lady, that she got reported different times in that same area. And if that wasn't strange enough, my buddy worked up at the local Chevy Garage. A few days later we met back up, and neither one of us had heard anything from the sheriff's office about that lady. So the guys up at the garage where my buddy Dale worked, they were telling him that this lady was like a local ghost. That she was some pioneer lady like back in the 1800s or sometime that had been her and her family had been killed, and and she supposedly haunts that area out there where and they even had a name for her. They called her Mona of the Plains. And I said, Well, why do they call her that? And he said, Well, they said that on still nights out there you can hear her moaning out on the prairie. So that's what they called her. The locals called her. But I put that story in my second book, and there'd just been dozens and dozens of people who had read that story or heard me tell the story much more detailed than what we did here. But that they come up to me and said, I saw her, or my brother or my sister saw her, my parents saw her, and it's just I had no idea. I I just thought it was a one-off thing. I'd never heard that story, but uh apparently a lot of people in that area down through many, many decades had been seeing this same lady in white, I called her, Mona of the Plains. So I never really believed in ghosts. I don't know that I do now. But I don't have another explanation for where she went. People have asked me, you know, well, did she look like a ghost? I'm like, well, what the heck's a ghost look like? I don't, you know, they was she like translucent? Could you kind of see through her? No, she looked like a real lady to us. You know, when we coasted past her maybe 10 miles an hour, she was just standing there and just kind of turned and watched us. And I stopped, you know, the dust came past us from the dirt road, and when I backed up, she was just gone, and there was really no place for her to go. I couldn't see her climbing over that five-wire high barbed wire fence and that long white dress, and it was just wheat fields on both sides. So, where the heck did she get off to? And there wasn't maybe 10-15 seconds between the time we backed up well past where she was, and there just wasn't time. So I just don't have another explanation. So people told me she was a ghost and she's kind of famous for the area. That's what I'm going with. I don't have another where did she go, you know? But what was interesting, I have since learned that that's kind of a global phenomenon, apparently. There all over the world, people have seen these ghostly lady in white apparitions, whatever you heck you want to call her, all over the world. A guy was telling me here a while back that down in Mexico and in South America, they see the same kind of a thing. And that just makes it even creepier for me. I I just don't and does that have anything to do with the the pterodactyl supposedly die bombing us just you know minutes before? I don't know, but it's it's one of my uh more popular story true stories that I've that I've written about and told many times. I just don't I don't know, you know. Like I say, I don't never really believed in ghosts, and I'm not I'm not a hundred percent sure that I do now, but I don't have another explanation for where this lady went and why was she out there all alone in the middle of the dark. There was no houses around, there was no like vehicles parked anywhere, she was just there, and then she wasn't there, so I don't know. It was creepy. It was a whole a very creepy night. Interesting.

Mona Of The Plains And A Global Pattern

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Yeah. So I mean when you say that you have an unexplained experience yourself, do those moments change how you approach fiction? Like, are you writing to make sense of something or to preserve a feeling?

SPEAKER_00 11:29

It I think it has influenced how I write my fiction. I try to

Writing Fiction Like A Movie

SPEAKER_00 11:36

come up with a scenario as I'm writing, and then I try to place myself in the people's position and how they're reacting. Maybe that's how I reacted whenever something happened to me. Or I had somebody ask me here a while back that when I'm writing, do I see it like playing like a movie in my head as I'm writing? And I'd never really thought of that before, but I think I do. And I'm kind of trying to write what's happening in the movie that's in my head, if that makes any sense. So I didn't really wasn't really cognizant, didn't recognize that was what happened, but I think that's pretty much how it goes. But and I'm just trying I'm trying to be as realistic as I can, you know, with writing fiction. And I'm kind of writing the fiction books or in like the cryptid horror thriller genre, but I'm trying to use a lot of Native American folklore. The Native Americans were in America way before any Europeans, Spaniards, or French or anyone was here. They've been around for thousands of years, and their folklore, their stories, their legends are still going on. People are still seeing these things. So I tried to try to incorporate some of their folklore into my stories, you know, and then put my own little twist to it. Maybe it's not exactly what the Native Americans were seeing, but maybe it's something that something similar, or maybe it's a real flesh and blood monster that has been around for thousands of years, it's just not recognized by science, and maybe the Native people saw these things, and that's where their story, their legends, their folklore came from. So that's kind of the twist I try to I try to put with it. Got it.

Paying Attention Outdoors In Real Time

SPEAKER_01 13:37

And so you have spent a lot of time fishing, hunting, working outdoors. Those are not just the copies, right? So they were the being in the world. So what do you think it is about those environments like those primes that opens people up with experiences that we wouldn't have otherwise?

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Well, being outside in nature, in the environment, there's always things going on. If you're just if you pay attention. I mean, whether it's uh the wildlife that's around you or maybe it's other people that are doing things, interacting with wildlife or you know, whether it w if you're you know, the other day I was out fishing and there was a goose near me that was just so noisy, and I don't know what that goose's problem was, but it he was just carrying on and honking and flapping his wings, but he he and he was fairly close to me. And I kept looking at this big bird thinking, what is your deal? Do you but eventually he got in the water and swam away, but it was just so interesting watching this goose, you know, and it's always there's plenty of things out there that are interesting, and if we'll just pay attention to some of it, you know. You know, if you're whether it's uh birds or other people, maybe it's somebody out on a on another boat or in a boat on front of you if you're at the bank, or maybe it's how the fish are reacting, or you know, birds, animals. I've had just so many, so many things that were funny, that were just odd, and maybe it was just something interesting, you know, that you just happen to see, just like that goose the other day. I was like, go bother someone else. I'm trying to get some peace and quiet and get my mind right, sitting out here by myself, and this goose was just not having it. He was not cooperating, and I he was there by himself too. So I it's just there's just so many interesting things out there in nature if you'll just pay attention. So many of us are on our our cell phones or smartphones, you know, and not paying attention to what's going on around us. I I'm guilty of the same thing. Uh that same day I was there fishing and wasn't getting many bites, and it was starting to get hot, and I dig out my cell phone, you know, and I'm looking at it and looking at something, and when I put my phone down, one of my lines was slack. I'd had a massive bite, and I didn't even see it because I was looking at my stupid phone, and I of course I grabbed it and reeled it up, and there was nothing there, and he took my whatever it was, it took my bait. So I don't know whether it was a little one or a big one, but he didn't hook himself, and I so that's just an example. I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing or what I should have been doing. I can go you can look at your phone anytime when you're out there and you know, and it's not always about catching anyway, it's always about the experience, you know, whether you're trying to make memories or just get away from work or the hustle and bustle of the city, you know, even if you're just going for a walk, just clear your mind sometimes at worth a lot. Very true.

Publishing Advice And Creative Grit

SPEAKER_00 17:02

So if you have to give one advice to the listeners today, what will be that's a good question. I would say I had someone ask me the other day how hard it was to write a book and get it published. And that that was kind of hard for me to answer because it was easy and hard together, if that makes any sense. I never in a million years thought I would ever have a book published, let alone eleven, like I have now. But it was easier than I thought, and yet it was harder trying to learn the process of of getting it published and picking a cover and getting everything just right so that it can be accepted and get through the review process. And but I tell people all the time if you have a dream and whatever that dream is, you know, if it's to be an author, don't let anybody tell you no that you can't do it, because look at me. If I can do it, you can do it. Don't let anybody tell you you can't. Can't never did anything. And don't be afraid to try, because it if you put your mind to it, if you're determined, and maybe you're just plain stubborn. I get accused of that a lot. Like I say, if I can do it, you can do it. And it's just been amazing. All kind of started off kind of as a as a lark, you know. Uh people enjoyed my stories. My nieces and nephews encouraged me to write some of those stories down, put them in a book, and publish it when I did, and it's just been a heck of a ride ever since. Since then, I've retired pretty much riding full time when I'm not hunting and fishing and doing podcasts, which I enjoy immensely. It's just been a wild ride, and I'm still riding, I'm still enjoying it. And but I would say, you know, don't let anybody tell you that you can't do something. Because if you put your mind to it and stick with it, if you're determined, I'm betting on you, I'm I'm I bet you you can do it because I did. And it's just been so amazing. I had a message just this morning from a guy, a man who had read one of my books and messaged me on Facebook and said that he had loved the book and he had loved the pictures that I had done and put in the book, and he was buying another book, another one of the books, and was gonna and start reading it, and that's what it's all about for me. It's just I'm just amazed that people read the stuff that I have written, both the true stories and the fiction, and they they enjoy it, and that's that's that's just amazing to me. And for me, that's what it's all about the feedback and that I get from people, and it's just it's just been crazy, and it's just been a wild ride, and I'm still I'm still riding. I I'm really enjoying it.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

Amazing.

Where To Find The Books

SPEAKER_01 20:05

And if listeners want to connect with you, how they can connect.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

Well, I'm on Facebook, uh just Rob Bowers is me on Facebook, and then all my books are on Amazon. You can search for my name, Robert O. Bowers, or you can search for the book titles. My fiction books are the first one was Red Eyes at Black Mesa, and then after that I wrote Hap Dog Will Travel, and then I did a prequel to that one called Hap Dog Will Travel, Valley of the Shampy. And Shampy, for those who don't know, is a Choctaw Native American name for Bigfoot. And then I did a sequel to Have Dog Will Travel called Have Dog Will Travel, Devil's Canyon, and my true stories are Campfire Tales from Uncle Rob. There's four volumes of that. And right now I'm doing second editions of all four of those with new covers and pictures, illustrations at the end of every chapter. And I I'm working on the fourth one. The first three second editions are finished and they're on Amazon. I'm working on the fourth one and shouldn't be too long. Hopefully, here three or four days I'll have it done and get it submitted. But so, yeah, you can hit me up on Facebook or check out my stuff on Amazon. It's like I say, it's just been a wild ride and it's uh kind of crazy. One of my buddies here the other day, I met him for lunch, and uh when I went in and seen him and his and another buddy of ours, two of them, went in and sat down with them, and they were like, So the famous author took time to come. I'm like, come on, guys, famous. I don't know about famous, but and then I said, If I'm so famous, you ought to give me more respect. Well, that's not how that works, you know, with your buddies for sure. But it's been fun and it's still fun. And I just I'm enjoying the heck out of it. Amazing.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

So day listeners, what I'll do is I'll put all the links, details, everything into the show notes for you easy to find, and I'll say, like, if there is one thing to carry from this conversation, it's this that the stories that matter most are often the ones that live just outside light, the ones we are not sure like how to explain, but we know we need to tell. So, Rob, thank you so much for sharing your perspectives and their listeners.

SPEAKER_00 22:28

Thank you for having me on and listening to my stories. I appreciate it. Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

And uh thank you so much everyone for being here. And uh you're listening, or maybe you'll be listening later as well, whether you are whatever, whatever wild ages who are walking along. I hope that you find a story worth keeping. So, with this, this is a host of week, and this is a mind mate's machine, and I'll see you in the next one. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 22:55

Thank you.