Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Shotgun F-U-N!




Be still my heart, I am in love……………………..
With a Remington 870, 20 gauge shot gun and I don’t care who knows it!!!

While the city girls are gathering together sipping rose wine over pedicures, Seed and Supply church friend Stephanie and I blew little orange clay discs out of the Bent County sky today.  It was just a thing of beauty that is all.

I have always loved to shoot pistols and Hubster Chad bought me a rifle a few years back promising we’d do some romantic date night pasture varmint annihilation soon.  We would go to the range and set up targets and shoot.  It’s always a good time and usually a family day out.  

But about three weeks ago Wiley E. Coyote made his usual Sunday stop at our place, licking his lips mentally devouring my barn cats.  Enough was enough.  He needed a killin’ and fast y’all.   You might say I’m getting a little too into this country wife, mom and protector of the land thing but wait.  There’s a happy ending to my original manifesto on how to make the mangy nasty coyote assume room temperature.  So I loaded up my prairie schooner wagon, we have a small family, mind you, and headed to the Junction or erh uh, modern day La Junta, Colorado to the big Wal-Mart.  You have to say “the” with Wal-Mart, it’s just respect, thank you southern author Ceila Rivenbark for that remark. 

Sooooooooooooooooooo after fondling a few different models I found my perfect and true love.  A simple, useful, 20 gauge Remington 870.  After promising Wal-mart my next born child, (ha ha ha ha cause I’m really too old to have more, I am 30, after all-wink wink) I handed the grimy old stained pen back and waited for manager Z to arrive to escort me and my reasonable purchase to the car, toilet paper, sketch pad,  deo, hairspray and a SHOTGUN y’all! I bought shells too, of course, and was happier than a pig in poop they were so cheap.  Why haven’t I been shooting shotguns for the last five years?  I would’ve saved so much money.  

I still need a really good name for her.  My pistols are all named.  There’s Bessie, Miranda and Reagan, I’m thinking something kinda funny yet girly.  I’ll let you all mull that over for a bit.  Maybe we’ll have a shot gun naming contest.  

Back to today, I blasted a few dozen targets out of the sky and life is just not the same.  I will need one of those little padded shooting vests now and I’m sure many other things.  I wanted to write about this subject because I noticed some interesting life lessons that presented in today’s day at the range.  They are as follows:


  • ·Keep your chin up always (yes, I mean when things are down looking up is always better than down.  After a while you start to feel better.  Keeping your chin up in shooting just helps you see your target better so take away what you will from that.
  •  Lean forward.  Forward is good.  It’s no good in life to be dwelling on what’s behind you.  Back there is where you came from and while some times in the past are good, they’re back there for a reason.
  • Never lose sight of your target.  Know where you are going in life or at least fake it until it feels real and eventually it will be.
  • Always have a crazy redheaded friend to accompany you on life’s little missions, even if it’s just that zombie target needs a killin.
  • Make safety a priority so that everyone goes home.
  • If you don’t hit the target just breathe and try again.  Elmer Fudd didn’t get that rascally wabbit on the first try, did he?
  • Follow through.  Yes, point the gun at the target after you've shot it.  In life, follow up with friends, stay in touch.  Follow up in business because you just never know.
  • NEVER forget to have an after the range meeting at a nice Mexican restaurant or one of your choice to talk about the day and just relax.
As for that coyote, he'd better hope he doesn’t get on the fighting side of me again (tribute to Merle) cause I’m shotgun proficient now baby!  He'll be yipping and yodeling "Are the good times really over" fo' sho!!

Oh, and remember to try those things in life that push you beyond your comfort level of your favorite 9mm pistol.  There ain’t nothin’ to it but to just do it!

SHOTgun=shotFUN!
~Anne Boswell Taylor
#LockedandLoaded
 
 

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