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  "path": "/the-hardest-part-of-history-to-tell-is-how-it-felt",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-15T15:32:13.000Z",
  "site": "https://defector.com",
  "tags": [
    "Arts And Culture",
    "History",
    "Books",
    "dogs",
    "fl",
    "Historiography",
    "lewis and clark",
    "this vast enterprise"
  ],
  "textContent": "I had already done the hard part that night: getting my kids to sleep. It was dark now, May 20, 2022, one of the last cool evenings before summer hit central Indiana. I told my wife I was going on a walk, put in my earbuds, and set out. Tomorrow was trash day, which meant dodging garbage cans and recycling bins. No one else was around. Three blocks from home, on a street lined with bungalows, I smelled smoke, the last breaths of a bonfire. I abandoned the sidewalk for the road; the smoke was still peppery. The podcaster said something about the NBA playoffs. Then, on the edge of my peripheral vision, I saw a big white blur.\n\nSomehow I knew it was a dog. I began to backpedal, expecting a leash to restrain it, but it didn't. The dog launched itself into me. Suddenly I was rolling on the ground, kicking and swinging and screaming for help. I could feel the teeth clamped into my calf, the jaws tearing and grinding. The dog released and bit again.\n\nWe fought for I'm not sure how long. Eventually, I grabbed a recycling bin and used it to bludgeon the dog until it backed off, snapping and snarling.",
  "title": "The Hardest Part Of History To Tell Is How It Felt"
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