Sunday, July 12, 2009

Mitchell, Oregon presents Hugh Reed

Until 'recently,'* Hugh Reed, 70, lived in a tree house. These days, he lives in a house with electricity with his 'pretty young thing' of a wife -- Skeeter, 49. They run the Oregon Hotel together, and Hugh spends his days drinking coffee or Keystone Light while running the town's one gas pump or selling ice out of a little shack. He is also the owner of Henry, a bear who was declawed as a cub. Henry likes to eat dog food one kernel at a time. Hugh says Henry also likes for Hugh to put his hand in his mouth and scratch the back of his tongue. I did not get physical proof of this.

Ask anybody in town about Hugh and they'll roll their eyes. If you listen to him, his own mom would, too. He insulted her once by asking her if she was raped by Big Foot -- "Look at me," he told her. "I look half animal. Plus, I was born in Roswell, New Mexico, where anything is possible."

Hugh offered to teach us 10 minutes worth of self-defense, but we never got around to it. He did show us a callous that he says is a result of an upward palm jab to the nose.

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*I suspect 'recently' is actually 26 years.

4 comments:

amanda allen said...

oh my god this man is amazing! he could be the long lost brother of my grandpa I do believe. he's an eccentric big foot sorta guy who grew up in Springfield Oregon.

Pam and Mike said...

Hugh is a great guy and will talk to you honestly if you earn his respect. We always stop to get gas when we're riding through, and I enjoy telling him about our most recent journeys.

It took a 10,000 mile motorcycle journey through Alaska to really pique Hugh's interest, even if it's been months since we've been through there, he usually remembers me and asks if we've got any more wild adventures planned.

I miss Henry, one of my favorite memories is feeding him apples held in my mouth. Snuffly bear kisses are cool.

Unknown said...

Hi Folks
Not sure if you're aware of this, but Hugh Reed had a stroke recently. If you could post this link so people could help out, I'm sure his family and friends would appreciate it. http://www.gofundme.com/trq3mtbw

Unknown said...

If Hugh finds out you made fun of him, when he gets better, he'll take you out to "visit" his bear.