SKEETers

Just picked up a new sport. This week I sold a bunch of junk from my garadge on craigslist, and afterwards went down to the local pawnshop and picked up a 12 gauge Winchester 1400. Logically, it needed an immediate test drive, so this morning my father and I went down to the local clay pigeon range to see what kind of damage we could do.

I let the ole pro have have the first few shots as seen above. Apparently, he has had some experience in a prior life, when some 50 years ago he placed third in a local turkey shoot. Besides, if an untried firearm is going to explode with the first shot, its best if you're not the one holding it right?

I ended up hitting about 20% of my targets.... okay maybe more like 10%. Dad, on the otherhand, was much better than me. Still, I got a good feel for the thrill of the sport, and now am pretty sure that it has won itself TWO new disciples.

Autumn Colors

This was what treated our eyes the first weekend of November here in Nashville--beautiful fall colors on a cool, crisp Sabbath afternoon. We took these pictures at the historic Grassmere farm behind the Nashville zoo. This is Aeva's first fall that she is old enough to enjoy and its been a treat so far.Here's my little girl getting tossed up in the air by her Papa. She tend to let out little excited gasps just as she leaves my arms.

Too bad such pretty colors are destined to fade so quickly. Shortly after these pictures were taken, we several hard rains that took most of the early colors off right away. Fortunately, there are still an abundance of hearty maple trees in middle Tennessee that cling to those fiery orange and vivid red colors until the last moments of autumn.

Intruders Beware

After months of talking about it, I finally had the chance to take my wife to the pistol range. The recoil from my 9mm was a little much for her, but this Ruger Mark III .22 that we rented was just her speed. And Jessica is a deadly shot too.

Here she is from 30 feet just as she is warming up. Keep in mind that she has never shot a pistol before.

Right before this video I had asked, "What are you going to do if a badguy breaks into our house in the middle of the night?" Well... here's your answer. Evil dudes stay away!