Getting Ready.....

It's been a while since I've posted, mainly because I haven't had much to say for the duration. However with summer quickly coming to an end I'm gearing up for what should be an interesting near-future.

Hunting season is near. Dove and quail season begins Wednesday but I'll have to wait until November 13 to start shooting pheasant. No matter, I have to put in a LOT of practice with the skeets.

Got started with that today, in fact. I joined the local gun range club (just call me Dale Gribble). Several folks were out there this very day for a blue-rock shooting contest. Despite my lack of experience (and skill) they were welcoming of this newcomer and gave me plenty of coaching which turned me from a miss-everything greenhorn into a "at least I got a few of them" beginner.

Heck, I even got three in a row during one of the rounds.

A little more about the guns. Yes, plural. I may have mentioned some time ago in this blog that Geodad gave me two of his old guns (a couple of years ago). I added one more firearm to my home arsenal a few weeks ago. Our local sporting goods retailer had the Remington 870 Express at a price I just couldn't pass up. (I'd been researching the classifieds and concluded I could get a brand new model for not much more than the used ones were selling.) I bought the 12-gauge model. No regrets. Now, instead of getting just one shot at a bird I can fire as much as five times (and probably still miss).

Any hunter reading the last sentence knows I'm being sarcastic. To get any more than two shots at a bird would require a very slow and hopelessly dumb fowl.

But back to the events of today. I shot two boxes of shells (50 rounds total) and have a rather tender right shoulder to show for it (that 12-gauge has some recoil!). I started with the 12-gauge (the first time I ever fired it) and then did another sequence with the vintage 16-gauge. I finally hit my stride with the sixteener and sent several florescent orange targets to skeet heaven.

Now that I belong to the gun club (although they haven't showed me the secret handshake yet) I can go to the range most anytime and practice to my heart's content. Yes, they have a couple of battery-operated traps. I just need to supply the blue rock (inexpensive) and of course buy my shotshells (12 gauge is much cheaper then the 16 gauge variety).

I also want to get little Geoana out there and have her try a 20-gauge.

Other things? Did a fair amount of camping over the summer. Since buying our rig in April we have camped in Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Texas, and Oklahoma. I've got a feeling Colorado won't be far off.

The last leg of our Texas vacation found us overnighting in Oklahoma City. I wanted to yell at the top of my lungs: "Sam Bradford is overrated!" but I showed proper restraint.

College football is almost here. Just like anyone else who has an interest in Texas schools, I'm waiting to see what happens to the Big 12-For-Now Conference. Will Texas and Texas A&M wind up in separate conferences? Seems like anything can happen these days.

My as-yet-unshared aspiration for our garden was to make salsa using only the fruits of our backyard. Sorry, won't happen. While the tomatoes have really taken off (a couple have overgrown their cages) and the Big Jim green chiles look healthy, the cilantro died while we were in Texas and the onions...well just read the last blog entry.

That's all for now. Back in a few days with more drivel.