The Lion's Pit Creature of New Jersey

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:09.039
The best way I could explain the
scream or how is uh whatever it was

2
00:00:09.039 --> 00:00:15.199
was in pain but not physical pain, like I just saw my mother died

3
00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:21.039
kind of pinion right in front of
me, and it just it's just I'm

4
00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:28.120
sorry, I'm a little overwhelmed.
The lungs on this day, the voice,

5
00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:33.640
and how how it got closer and
closer and louder, like we never

6
00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:37.880
heard any footsteps, never heard any
footsteps or anything like that, but I

7
00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:42.439
mean it was I felt like it
was literally five to ten feet away from

8
00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:45.799
us. And one of the guys
was that was with us. He was

9
00:00:45.799 --> 00:00:49.439
one of the biggest toughest guides in
school. You know, he was really

10
00:00:49.479 --> 00:00:57.799
tough dude, and he was the
first one that started running right there.

11
00:00:57.799 --> 00:01:02.000
You're listening to the Big Society podcasts. I'm Jeremiah Byron. Every week I

12
00:01:02.039 --> 00:01:06.480
talk to individuals who have experienced sasquats
in some way or another. So you

13
00:01:06.519 --> 00:01:10.200
won't want to miss an episode.
Make sure you're subscribed on the platform that

14
00:01:10.239 --> 00:01:14.040
you're listening to, and share this
episode with a friend. Does not cost

15
00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:18.000
a thing, and it helps the
show continue to grow. If you'd like

16
00:01:18.040 --> 00:01:21.439
to hear Bigfoot Society episodes, early
in ad free. You can do so

17
00:01:21.560 --> 00:01:26.159
by becoming a Patreon supporter or a
YouTube channel member. Links to those are

18
00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:30.359
in the show notes and Bigfoot Society. I've taken far too much of your

19
00:01:30.359 --> 00:01:34.799
time so far, so let's get
on with the show Big Society. We've

20
00:01:34.840 --> 00:01:41.760
got a special follow up episode based
on the episode two ninety eight that just

21
00:01:42.040 --> 00:01:48.280
released earlier today. Before I play
the follow up interview, we also have

22
00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:55.439
our first encounter voicemail that came in
from a gentleman named Darren about what he

23
00:01:55.560 --> 00:02:01.040
experienced, So enjoy that first few
minutes. Also talk to a gentleman named

24
00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:08.479
Dominic who encountered something in the late
eighties. It was very similar to what

25
00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:14.680
swamp Dog shared in his episode that
was released earlier today. It's a first

26
00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:21.159
for Bigfoot Society and be interesting to
see what comes of this. Was there

27
00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:25.680
a creature that was going around this
area of Jersey in the late eighties early

28
00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:31.960
nineties. We'll have to see what
comes of this. Enjoy this encounter voicemail

29
00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:43.759
and short interview with Dominic from South
Jersey. Hello, my name's Darren Hahn,

30
00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:47.599
and back in two thousand, me
and my brother went out West can

31
00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:54.520
Go traveling all around the West and
see the sites, national parks, monuments

32
00:02:54.560 --> 00:03:01.680
and all that. And we camped
out just about everywhere. And when we

33
00:03:01.800 --> 00:03:10.919
came to Washington State, we wanted
to climb up Mount Saint Helens and so

34
00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:17.199
we got a permit and everything,
and we set up the tent ate went

35
00:03:17.240 --> 00:03:24.759
to sleep. So I woke up. It was like midnight or one o'clock

36
00:03:25.639 --> 00:03:30.319
and I had to go to the
bathroom and my brother was still asleep and

37
00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:37.800
I heard this deep like scream or
yell or It did not sound like any

38
00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:46.520
person or animal. It was a
frightening script scream like a roar. And

39
00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:53.800
uh, that was eye opening and
scary because I never heard anything like that

40
00:03:53.879 --> 00:04:00.280
in my life, and I just
wanted to let you know all that.

41
00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:10.960
All right, well, I'm signing
off, Bye bye. Special thank you

42
00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:15.319
to Darren for sending in his big
Foot encounter on the Bigfoot Encounter hotline.

43
00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:19.600
You can send in your encounter if
you'd like to buy, clicking on the

44
00:04:19.639 --> 00:04:27.360
link in the show notes for this
episode, and we would love to share

45
00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:31.360
your voicemail about what you've encountered as
well. All right, let's get into

46
00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:36.959
our interview with Dominic about what he
also encountered during the same time frame that

47
00:04:38.040 --> 00:04:41.920
swamp Dog was having his encounters as
well. All right, big for society.

48
00:04:41.959 --> 00:04:47.720
We've got a special update episode here. And this is just happening really

49
00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:56.519
quick after the latest episode with a
swamp Dog that came out pretty recently earlier

50
00:04:56.560 --> 00:05:02.000
today, and I had a gentleman
reach out to me about some interesting things

51
00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:06.839
that he has had happened. And
so Dominic, how's it going today.

52
00:05:09.480 --> 00:05:11.600
Oh, it's going great. It's
going great. I appreciate you having me

53
00:05:11.639 --> 00:05:17.000
on. I'm really excited. This
is pretty neat. The validation is overwhelming

54
00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:21.120
for me right now since I just
heard the episodes. So excuse me if

55
00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:26.639
I found a little excited or anxious
or whatever. But the validation is just

56
00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:31.279
overwhelming right now. I can't explain
after hearing swan Doog talk about those screams

57
00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:35.319
and how it got closer and louder. Oh, it blew my mind,

58
00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:40.519
and especially being from South Jersey,
it was just I can't explain to validation

59
00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:44.959
right now. It's crazy. Absolutely. So it's so kind of you know,

60
00:05:45.079 --> 00:05:49.480
lay out, like what what section
of the podcast with Swamptog kind of

61
00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:55.079
jogged your memory, and and what
what area of your life. Did it

62
00:05:55.160 --> 00:05:59.720
bring you back to when you heard
that? Okay, Well, I mean

63
00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:01.959
I always followed about it over the
years. I've always you know, I

64
00:06:02.040 --> 00:06:08.519
wondered what it was, Uh why
I thought it was big foot and I

65
00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:12.680
switched maybe something out, but I
don't know, but after hearing his story

66
00:06:12.759 --> 00:06:17.560
was crazy. It was nineteen eighty
nine, nineteen ninety I was like fifteen

67
00:06:17.639 --> 00:06:24.399
or sixteen years old. Weren't raised
in South There's a place called uh Ketalena

68
00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:30.040
Hills and it's a really neat woods
back there. There's there's a really cool

69
00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:34.120
creek and uh big pits. It's
called the Lions Pit, and it was

70
00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:39.040
just it's just a really neat place
to go up. And it was baseball

71
00:06:39.079 --> 00:06:42.319
fields, two baseball fields, and
they were basically surrounded by the woods.

72
00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:49.360
And it was probably around springtime and
uh that was probably you know, fifteen

73
00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:53.439
or sixteen, and being about five
of my friends were at the baseball field

74
00:06:53.480 --> 00:06:57.560
messing around, riding their bikes and
hoot and holler and everything, and we

75
00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:02.120
started hearing this, I don't know
what to call it, how or like

76
00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:09.639
a type of growl and in the
distance, and we gets dismissed it as

77
00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:14.639
a as a dog. But then
it started getting louder and louder and closer,

78
00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:19.879
and we're glad that's no dog.
That is not a dog. It

79
00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:29.519
was the best way I could explain
the scream or how is uh whatever it

80
00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:34.959
was was in pain, but not
physical pain like I just saw my mother

81
00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:40.759
died kind of pain right in front
of me, and it just the Oh,

82
00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:44.720
it's just I'm sorry. I a
little overwhelmed just hearing the other podcast.

83
00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:49.800
It's blowing my mind anyway, And
uh, like I said, we

84
00:07:49.800 --> 00:07:55.600
we we thought it was you know, we didn't think it was a dog,

85
00:07:55.639 --> 00:07:58.360
but we dismissed it as that,
you know kids. Nobody wanted to

86
00:07:58.360 --> 00:08:01.759
act scared or anything. But I
mean the lungs on this thing, the

87
00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:07.680
voice, and how how it got
closer and closer and louder. Like we

88
00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:11.959
never heard any footsteps, never heard
any footsteps or anything like that, but

89
00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:16.560
I mean it was I felt like
it was literally five to ten feet away

90
00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:20.959
from us. And one of the
guys was that was with us. He

91
00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:22.800
was one of the biggest, toughest
guys in school. You know, he

92
00:08:22.920 --> 00:08:26.680
was really tough dude, and he
was the first one that started running.

93
00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:30.279
And when we saw him running.
We just took off. We ran for

94
00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:37.480
our lives. It was I don't
know. I told people the story over

95
00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:41.720
the years and everybody said, over
whatever, But here in Swanthag tell that.

96
00:08:41.879 --> 00:08:46.919
I can't tell you the validation it
was. It was a crazy,

97
00:08:46.039 --> 00:08:52.000
crazy experience. Since then, I've
been a big big foot believer. You

98
00:08:52.039 --> 00:08:58.840
know, we don't I it was
about twenty miles or so from the time

99
00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:01.240
Barrons. These woods might even be
connected to the pine barrens. I'm not

100
00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:05.919
sure, you know, but there
was definitely something there. It definitely wasn't

101
00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:09.759
human. It definitely was not any
animal that would be in our woods in

102
00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:15.120
New Jersey because you know, even
if we had a bear, bears don't

103
00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:18.200
sound like that. You know,
we didn't have really anything that was raccoon

104
00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:22.519
squirrels, So, you know,
whatever it was, it was definitely wasn't

105
00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:31.639
a dog. It was just an
unbelievable how screen And like I said,

106
00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:37.080
it just sounded like it was like
an absolute pain of some sort, and

107
00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:41.080
it sounded vicious, like it sounded
mad, you know, I mean,

108
00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:46.399
it was ruined, and it was
just so loud and overwhelming, and me

109
00:09:46.440 --> 00:09:52.399
and my friends, we I don't
ever remember talking about it with them again,

110
00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:54.159
you know, I don't, I
don't know, And like like you

111
00:09:54.200 --> 00:09:58.360
said, you know, years later, stuff triggers you remember it, you

112
00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:03.039
know. I'm sure bunching big Foot
shows and all that stuff and always made

113
00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:07.080
me wonder. But they didn't tell
the exactly like it happened to us just

114
00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:11.519
blows my mind, or Motley crew
or whatever. But yeah, I mean

115
00:10:11.559 --> 00:10:18.480
it was. I mean, it
really was, and we were just I

116
00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:22.080
don't I keep trying to remember.
I'm sure we you know, we were

117
00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:24.879
making noise and all that stuff,
but the way it just was like in

118
00:10:24.919 --> 00:10:28.559
the distance thing and just kept getting
closer and closer, and you know,

119
00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:31.240
we stopped and started listening now and
we didn't hear any footsteps, but I

120
00:10:31.240 --> 00:10:35.399
mean it was so loud. I
mean, it has to be five to

121
00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:41.679
ten feet away from it was.
It was crazy. We'll be back with

122
00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:50.240
more big Foot Society after these words
from our sponsors. Absolutely crazy. Now

123
00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:52.360
I'm curious. I mean, and
from what you know you see on TV

124
00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:58.200
or whatever, the big foot usually
doesn't sound like that, So I don't

125
00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:01.440
know, you know, what it
was. Could have been the Jersey Devil

126
00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:05.440
maybe, you know, could have
been big foot maybe, but it was

127
00:11:05.639 --> 00:11:09.639
not a dog. It was not, like I said, no animal like

128
00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:13.840
anything you ever having before in your
life. Well, see, that's a

129
00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:18.440
that's a really interesting thought dominic because
you know we know that there are they're

130
00:11:18.440 --> 00:11:24.519
a big foot in New Jersey and
especially you know you've got like the big

131
00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:30.679
red eye creature up in Sussex County
that's pretty popular. But you know,

132
00:11:31.320 --> 00:11:37.159
hearing the scream, you bring up
a good point. Potentially you could be

133
00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:41.759
dealing with something like the Jersey Devil
or even something like a dog man.

134
00:11:41.799 --> 00:11:46.879
I mean, who's to know what's
in the woods around these pine barrens,

135
00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:52.320
which you know I've heard before are
a pretty wild area. Yeah, you

136
00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:56.919
always hear you know, stories here, but dog man. I didn't even

137
00:11:56.000 --> 00:12:01.679
think it's all mad because that makes
a lot of sense too. The how

138
00:12:01.879 --> 00:12:05.440
the screen was like, like I
said, at first, it was like

139
00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:09.360
we just dismissed it as adult.
But it's our closer and louder we're like,

140
00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:16.000
that is not a dolt, and
yeah, so I need to think

141
00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:20.679
of that, Yeah, something of
that nature. Yeah, yeah, it's

142
00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:24.120
just crazy. When you were listening
to swamp Dog, did you try to

143
00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:30.279
figure out how close the area that
you had your encounter is to the area

144
00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:35.559
like, yeah, I googled it
up Violing. I think it was about

145
00:12:35.559 --> 00:12:41.919
twenty five to thirty barns uh from
where I where I was, So it's

146
00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:46.840
pretty far. I think it was
thick Viln is probably about forty five minute

147
00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:50.960
drive. You know, I can
get to up around the pine Brons.

148
00:12:50.120 --> 00:12:54.600
You know, I'm probably like twenty
five thirty minutes tops, you know,

149
00:12:54.600 --> 00:12:58.200
because they are they are pretty big. The part that I know where the

150
00:12:58.200 --> 00:13:01.879
pine Barrons are, I might even
be close than that. Then then I

151
00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:05.600
never realized. But yeah, there's
a big area. I mean there's a

152
00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:09.440
lot of woods in New Jersey.
Like you said, it's not all you

153
00:13:09.480 --> 00:13:11.519
know, like Nord Jersey where everybody
thinks it's New York and all that,

154
00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:16.919
and you know, right next to
Philadelphia. But there's tone to farms,

155
00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:20.840
you know, tons and tons of
woods. They're really cool woods too,

156
00:13:22.039 --> 00:13:24.799
like you know, really neat ones
with the Criecks or you know you guys

157
00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:28.320
call the creeks and calling cricks in
New Jersey. But yeah, it just

158
00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:33.440
and I grew up in those woods. I played back there every day of

159
00:13:33.480 --> 00:13:37.039
my life. I was back there
and never heard anything like that. I

160
00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:39.759
never had no eerie feelings, nothing
like that except for that one time.

161
00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:45.879
And I don't think I went back
there much after that, because you know,

162
00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:48.519
my my baseball days were over.
I was too old for for that

163
00:13:48.600 --> 00:13:50.919
at the time, you know,
to play at those fields anyway, So

164
00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:56.240
I don't really know if I ever
went back there, except for one time

165
00:13:56.240 --> 00:14:00.159
I took my kids back at the
show. It's home. I can't us

166
00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:05.440
and off the validation to hear him
say exactly how it happened to us,

167
00:14:05.799 --> 00:14:11.519
Yeah, and uh, I don't
know. I mentioned it to uh.

168
00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:15.279
Yeah, I mentioned it, uh, one of my friends on Facebook on

169
00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:18.480
the comment, and he never replied
back. I was like it, asked

170
00:14:18.519 --> 00:14:20.960
him if you remembered it, you
know, and he never replied back.

171
00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.320
So, and I'm only positive of
two people that were there. I can't

172
00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:26.639
remember the other couple of guys that
were there. But the reason I remember

173
00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:30.879
the one guy is because you know, when we saw him wrong, we

174
00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:33.399
were like, oh my gosh,
he's you know, I'm gonna say they

175
00:14:33.480 --> 00:14:37.639
but he's taken off, man,
it's crazy. Luckily I had a bike,

176
00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:41.440
so I was leaving the back I
was out of there. Part of

177
00:14:41.480 --> 00:14:45.720
me now wishes I would have liked
to seen it, but that, yeah,

178
00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:50.679
exactly, it's like that it didn't
stand. I part of me wished

179
00:14:50.679 --> 00:14:54.720
I'm gonna have stayed and maybe saw
something. But I think the way this

180
00:14:54.759 --> 00:14:58.799
thing was screaming, it was going
to rip you apart. If it's all

181
00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:03.919
because it was, I'm telling it
was it was mad or upset like,

182
00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:07.519
not a physical pain like my mom
just got in my arms. Kind of

183
00:15:07.720 --> 00:15:13.080
screamed pain like is the best way
I could describe it. And it was

184
00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:18.200
absolutely terrifying. And uh, yes, swant Dog is not kidding about that.

185
00:15:18.440 --> 00:15:24.080
Have you heard of any other interesting
stories that have come out from that

186
00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:28.360
area or from South Jersey that you
know, kind of make you think what's

187
00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:33.840
going on around here? Yeah,
everybody has a has a story in New

188
00:15:33.879 --> 00:15:37.519
Jersey, especially about the Jersey Dad. Well, I remember my dad would

189
00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:41.240
always tell this story. You know, he would be back there a lot

190
00:15:41.320 --> 00:15:43.240
he hunted and all that stuff,
and he's taken me back there a lot

191
00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:48.840
as a kid. But he always
told this story about you know, uh,

192
00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:52.799
just one place we used to go
where they would hear something really big

193
00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:56.879
on the roof all the time,
something scratching with ripping through their trash,

194
00:15:56.200 --> 00:16:00.919
and they did. He always said
it it was way too big to be

195
00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:03.360
any you know, any kind of
animal. What kind of animal can get

196
00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:07.600
on the roof, you know,
So he's a he definitely fixes the Jersey

197
00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:11.840
debble, that's for sure, because
he likes tell that story. And you

198
00:16:11.879 --> 00:16:15.840
know they would go investigated the next
day. He said there there would be

199
00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:19.960
shingles missing and stuff on the roof, and you know, it happened a

200
00:16:19.960 --> 00:16:25.840
couple of times. So that that
I've heard, and I don't know.

201
00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:30.120
Sorry, I'm just a trying to
think, but the Jersey Devil, it's

202
00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:33.919
it's definitely a thing. I mean, there's so many witnesses and all that.

203
00:16:33.960 --> 00:16:36.519
I'm sure some are made up and
all that, but I'll tell you

204
00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:41.799
after hearing that that that screen,
I mean, hey, it's possible was

205
00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:47.320
that because like I said, we
didn't hear any footsteps and you know in

206
00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:49.039
the woods you're gonna hear something comment, I mean, with all the leaves

207
00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:53.159
crackle in and all that stuff.
But I didn't hear any footsteps, you

208
00:16:53.240 --> 00:16:57.720
know. So whether it was a
Jersey doble or not, like I said,

209
00:16:57.759 --> 00:17:02.720
I don't know, but it was
something that wasn't human and or any

210
00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:07.319
kind of animal of this world that
we know love for sure, absolutely incredible,

211
00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:14.720
and so thank you for reaching out
Dominic. It's such an interesting anecdotal

212
00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:19.400
story from the late eighties. Happened
the same time when swamp Dog had his

213
00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:25.960
issues, but it was the same
time frame, you know, uh,

214
00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:32.839
nineteen nineteen ninety right around there.
But yeah, that's crazy. Absolutely,

215
00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:37.920
I appreciate you having me on let
me story, and and I love your

216
00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:41.079
podcast, and I appreciate swamps all
coming out there because I can't tell you

217
00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:44.880
how much again, how much my
mind blown after hearing that and the validation

218
00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.000
is absolutely amazing. Absolutely, thanks
for reaching out, Dominic, and keep

219
00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:52.240
keep an ear open if you hear
anything else, definitely let me know.

220
00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:56.559
Man for sure, for sure,
I thank you, Jeremiah. I really

221
00:17:56.640 --> 00:18:00.680
appreciate your time and your podcast that
be come on like this is great.

222
00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:04.839
Thank you, sir, Thank you. You're a Bigfoot Society article is to

223
00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:11.680
provide a platform for those that have
encountered bigfoot to share their encounter in a

224
00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:15.599
safe and respected environment. But we
need to hear your story. If you've

225
00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:22.359
experienced something that you just can't explain. Please send me an email at Bigfoot

226
00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:27.039
Society at gmail dot com, then
we can start the conversation. I know

227
00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:33.519
a lot of you have not shared
your encounter at all. It's been twenty

228
00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:37.759
years and it's time that you get
this off your chest and then you can

229
00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:41.920
get some well deserved for rest,
because I know you haven't been sleeping.

230
00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:47.039
I understand what you're going through,
and I appreciate every one of you listening