As long as I live, I'll never forget this little episode..
I used to frequent a little bar in central Texas..a lot. Early to mid 80s. I knew everyone there. It was built on to one side of an old country grocery store, and the bar area was long and relatively narrow, Maybe 50' long by maybe 12-14' wide. Far end had a pool table. There was a wood burning box stove against 1 wall 1/2 way down, and the bar and barstools along the other wall with the beer being served from behind it. All local folks and oil field workers. Opposite end of the area was a card table for poker and dominoes. This, would be called I suppose, a beer joint. One door in one end, another by the pool table. Another entered the store side. Nothing fancy in the least. The building dated back to the early 1900s, maybe late 1800s and the grocery store part was originally a Lutheran church, with a high peaked roof. That high peaked roof caused problems because it's height sometimes caused the woodstove to not draw well and the place would fill with smoke.
One very cold Saturday night, the place was full, and a local rancher and tank battery pumper we all knew, (named Gary Zboril-dead now,) strolled in thru the front entrance, carrying a burlap bag. Gary and his family owned the Circle Z arena and rode bulls and roped there and was a really nice guy. He walked past the card players, past the little open area where maybe one or 2 couples occasionally danced and right up to the end of the bar where I was. I knew he was up to no good when he looked at me and grinned and moved my long neck over a little, then set the bag down on the floor beside my chair. I'm thinkin..Oh sheit, WTF is going to happen now.. Gary ordered a beer from the owner Linda B. then walked over to the juke box and plunked in his 2 quarters and made a selection. I looked down at the bag. It was movin... The bar stools were mostly filled with the local girls and the proprietor brought his beer, saw the look on his face, knew that grin and she moved back away from the counter. She didn't know what was fixin to take place, but she and I both knew he was fixin to do
something. About 1/2 way thru his beer, as soon as Pancho and Lefty came on the jukebox, he said "Don, you might want to move over a little".. and he reached down, picked up the bag, pulled the draw string and dumped a live possum right out on the bar top.
I knew possums well and knew what was fixing to take place so I backed up a little more. That possum sat still for just a second or 2, bared it's toothy frown, hissed, and took off down the bar top. Slick Charanza grabbed his beer, leaned way back on his stool and let possum by, pizzed off possum headed past Mr & Mrs Brinkman and then knocked over the drinks in front of Linda Kubena and her Friend. Both of them, in all their dressed up finery abandoned barstool with more than a little screamin, and the possum kept going till it reached the end and jumped over onto the pool table light and just sat there a minute hissing while Linda the bar owner was chewin on Gary's butt and on mine for laughing. One of the pool players dislodged the possum with a pool stick, and it took off right back where it came from. (Linda K had a hair and makeup type salon in town and even without, she was one good looking lady..probably still is. I liked her but she and the other Linda (that owned the place,) came very close to getting me killed one wet morning)
About 1/2 way down the bar, the possum saw Gary at the end of the counter and figured to have had enough of Gary, so it jumped off at a right angle ... and landed right on top of the almost red hot woodstove. It was like time stood still for a few seconds. Possum didn't move a hair, steam was coming from it's feet and then the pain registered and it jumped straight up, Somehow landed on the wooden floor, took off toward the pool table end where someone kindly opened the door and off into the Burleson County night possum went.
I kinda miss that place and certainly the people there.
The things i saw happen there tho....
The people there were among the best I've lived around. Honest, friendly. Hard workers too. The building is still there, but the store and bar have been closed down and mostly abandoned for quite a few years now from the looks of it
View attachment 12999.
The grocery is on the left part and the bar part is right behind the stock trailer. The little boxy building on the right was once an ice house (way before my time there)
ingrates. Told the wife not to feed them. 
