No. 28: Learn to shoot a gun

No. 28: Learn to shoot a gun!

I did it!

Friend loves online auctions and one morning he asked "Didn't you say you wanted to learn to shoot?"  Yep, I sure did.  Soooooo..... he bid on a gun for me.  And I totally forgot about it.

Until the next morning when he announced I was now the proud owner of a Smith & Wesson 38 Special.  Uh, how did that happen again?

Isn't it cute? 

Anyway, the gun arrived, a membership to the gun club materialized and Voila! all I had to do was schedule myself for a class.

With all the traveling and the pandemic and, you know, life....I had not gotten around to it. Until I did. 

I signed myself up for the Women's Only Introduction to Pistols at Bristlecone Shooting range in Lakewood, Co.  This was the week. Four hours of instruction: two in the classroom and two on the range.

Now, I wanted to learn to shoot a gun because it just seems like a good thing to know.  I have no delusions that I will be packing heat on a regular basis but I did want to feel comfortable around them. And I do have a house in the woods surrounded by bears and mountain lions and ...ahem...a few crazy people.  Besides, aren't Texas girls supposed to know how to shoot? 

So I paid close attention during class and then nervously entered the range. There had been much discussion about "recoil" which was not something I realized I needed to worry about.

We dry fired our guns...practicing without bullets... before I got the lesson on loading and a review of safety rules and then...show time.

Geez, I was nervous. I pulled the trigger and screamed "F**K". (Thankfully only 3 of us on the range and no one seemed offended.)   It was at that moment that I realized I basically just set off some gun powder in my hand, barely encased in the stainless steel. And here is my first shot. 

If you're looking all over, 

let me just point out that one perfect hole in the center of the A.

Which was exactly where it was supposed to be.

Not bad, huh?   But that was because I was unaware of how LOUD it would be. And there would be a bright flash. And the gun would actually smoke at times. 

The first 45 minutes I jumped at every shot, mine or the other student's. And sometimes at the shots from the range next door. It seemed that box of 50 bullets was going to last forever... and there was still another hour of range time left....and maybe this wasn't such a good idea. 

Cock that gun...

But I persevered. And it got to be fun. 

Aim.

And no, I wasn't that great although I can proudly say that there were fifty bullets in the box and I ended up with fifty holes in the target. 

We weren't supposed to aim for the head. 

I did feel bad about getting the target in the nuts, though.

Can't wait to go back. No. 28 is done.

(And no, I was not sore the next morning. That little revolver really didn't have much recoil.
BUT... My right shoulder blade was sore the second morning. Probably just from holding my arms at an angle I was unused to....)

Day 470billion

Day 470billion and counting....

Well, here we are still...smack dab in the middle of the pandemic. I finally caved and bought myself a laptop because this thing doesn't seem to be going away and I need connection. 

How is everyone holding up?   My former home state of Texas is getting hammered right now and I know sooo many people who are sick and too many people who have lost loved ones.

Still unemployed although my benefits will run out before the end of the year so...yea...that's a problem. I am trying desperately to come up with a way to support myself that does not include going to a 9 to 5 job. If anyone has suggestions, I am all ears. 

And how have I been passing the time?  Surprisingly, by traveling. 

I spent a week in Texas packing up my mom's house. 

One closet down, the rest of the house to go...

Visiting with friends was cut short by my brother's announcement that he tested positive for Covid19 about an hour after we had lunch together. Fortunately that was a false positive but still...no one (including me) was willing to interact with that possible diagnosis hanging over my head. 

My most favorite discovery amongst the millions of photos
and souvenirs of lives well lived:
My Great Aunt Louise and her sorority sisters
at the University of Texas
Circa 1919

Anyway, I got the house mostly packed up before heading back to Colorado.

Bunny graduated from Ole Miss (YAY!) and moved to Tampa.  She liked the idea of being closer to her sister but wasn't that fond of the East coast of Florida. Current boyfriend lives in Tampa and his mom was a lifesaver in finding her an apartment. Of course, the job opportunities that were everywhere in March completely dried up by her move in May and she has just now gotten a job.  Anyway, I wanted to get to Florida to see both girls before life intervened and we all were working and unable to visit. A long weekend in Tampa at the beginning of June was perfect. 

Belle, Me, Bunny
at the beach in Florida

Belle and her BF came over from Palm Beach and I got to meet Bunny's BF for the first time. 

Love love love Bunny's little apartment-walking distance to restaurants and stores- and the beach at Clearwater is gorgeous.  Her job starts this week so cross your fingers all goes well. Belle is also back to work after being laid off but she says it is impossibly slow. Florida being another hot spot for the virus makes her job a challenge. 

Home from Florida I headed to the cabin for a week to supervise a new roof installation. I'm on the fence about what to do with that cabin. 

New roof, fresh paint. 
Want to buy it? 

Love it dearly but it has its drawbacks.  I've been staying in Golden for 5 months now and enjoying being back in civilization. After my hospital stay last November I realized that living in a rural area was maybe not the best of long term plans. Add to that the need/desire to be within an hour of the airport and the cabin looks less and less inviting. Welcoming any suggestions or extravagant offers to purchase it...

For July 4th we drove to Montana (No. 65: Visit a new state!) to visit Friend's brother. We took the RV which was a fun experiment, my having only been in an RV once before. (And even then we stayed local.) So we drove for two days through Wyoming and Montana to Bigfork. I expected the Eastern side of Wyoming to be more mountainous...I guess because my only other experience with Wyoming was Yellowstone National Park.  I had volunteered to drive the RV until I realized the speed limit was 80 and that sucker was bigger than I expected. Nope, couldn't do it. 

Ok. So it doesn't seem that big here. 
But I was more comfortable driving the Smart Car....
And isn't this a magnificent Montana Sunset? 

Working on No. 99, we stopped at the Battlefield of the Little Bighorn (aka Custer's Last Stand). It's fascinating to drive through the fields (I had my own personal historian and park buff driving me) and even with other cars and people, I could imagine the horses coming over the hills, how easy it must have been for Custer to miscalculate the number of Native Americans down below, see the whole scenario play out....

Bigfork, MT is darling and the brother's house on the water was perfect for July 4 fireworks. Honestly, I've never seen so many explosives in the sky in one night. There was a professional display from the Lodge across the lake and then the neighbors were all competing against each other and it was almost overload. And that's from someone who ADORES fireworks. 

Magical

Love!

Like the Milky Way exploding!

We tried to go through Glacier National Park but, like many public areas, it was overwhelmed with visitors and many parts shut down. We ended up with a picnic by the lake and a stop on the way home for cherries. 

A particularly awful pic of me in front of 
Lake McDonald.  
Riding in a convertible will give you that lovely hairdo. 

Home from Montana for two days and then off again to Texas. JeanMom's house had sold and the deadline to be out was fast approaching. Fortunately, emptying houses is my jam. I packed, I sorted and I emptied. 

Little house ready to move on to a new owner.

We did not disclose the ghost that came with the house.

He's friendly.

The Ft Bend Women's Center was the beneficiary of some items, the rest went to storage to be sorted through when it isn't July in Texas.  

Someone at the Women's Center has a sense of humor.
Woody hanging on to the back of a moving truck!

WHY do I seem to end up doing my moving in the heat of the summer? No clue. I'll probably end up moving out of the cabin in the middle of January during a blizzard. 

The storage unit filled!

And now, as the Corona virus seems to be having a come back and states are grappling with masks and shut downs and the impending school year, I am back in Golden. The one project I started back in May, a baby quilt for a friend, has FINALLY been completed. Like everything else this year, this project was filled with false starts and corrections and mistakes. I completed the top once, only to trash it and start completely over. The new top was attached to the backing and  then ripped apart to be redone because I didn't like the batting. This is one project I will be happy to put in the mail. At least I can say I am happy with the results. 

In progress here, and now done. 
Into the mail today!

So. Any suggestions for gainful employment, creative (paying) endeavors and or housing solutions will be welcomed. 

Everyone stay safe, wear your masks and wash your hands.