I'd just wheeled our garbage container to the street. A nice warm south wind carried the scent of sweet flowers and pushed the Spanish Moss. The moon was bright. The river flat and glassy. Perfect. Warm enough yet not hot. My kind of summer. A slice of summer children remember.
The adult me hates summer. I find its heat uncomfortable. But once in a blue moon I find a taste of my youth in the months of June and July. Seldom August. Yet, late summer nights often make me smile. Now, if I find a way to bag just a few moments of what I experienced last evening think of the possibilities of its use during those long cold and dark winters ahead.
With the children out for summer vacation the street and park seem abandoned. Business has grown to a crawl. It's slow. Believe it or not the basketball courts are empty. Even the Urban Campers have ducked beneath the earth.
So, I clean firearms. My hands smell of gun oil. I should dab a bit beneath my ears. Stuff smells kinda good and has been noted to work out the wrinkles. We'll see.
Sweet Wife has never said but I'm sure she thinks I'm nuts for my weird habit of firearms cleaning during those nights of movies and certain television shows. Me and my little bottle of Break Free, bore-snake and shop rags, two or three handguns....keeps me busy. I've an old Colt Official Police that has been cleaned so often it absolutely sparkles. She sits upright on my mantle with a shotgun shell thru the trigger guard. I have the old girl filled with vintage rounds of .38....just seems right somehow. Old firearm, equally old ammo. She stands guard just above an ancient rabbit eared shotgun. My Colt came into this world before Hitler invaded Poland.
Told you. This is a ramble.
*****
Over at Gander Mountain this weekend I found the shelves filled with ammunition, well, other than what I wanted, but none the less, the place held tons of boom-boom. But, the prices were silly high. I mean, damn. I passed.
*****
Now, if you'll please excuse me I've blogs to read and comments to answer.
Go thump a watermelon and smile.
Stephen
Online ammo is the way to go for us, the local stores that have it want all the money. The stores that have good prices never have inventory.
ReplyDeleteGlad we stocked up before the change, but it's still expensive to replenish.
I agree, Max. I use online too. Never had a stock of this old cartridge. Thanks, my friend.
DeleteEven reloading is getting expensive for some of the calibers these days. The only way I have found to keep expenses down is to shoot the stuff I can cast my own bullets for and that includes finding free lead at work to offset that price. Under those circumstances I can keep straight walled cases down to the price of just a primer and powder. With a low end charge the cases don't take much of a beating and I can get a lot more loads into them but honestly it gets so boring just shooting those rounds I might as well just break out the muzzle loader.
ReplyDeleteIt's just been .38 ,357 and .45 for me the last year it seems.
Agreed. My father has hundreds of pounds of lead out at his place yet we seldom use it. I'm stocked fairly deep in ammo just not this round...there just isn't any components. Thanks, my friend.
DeleteAh Stephen its so nice to see you return. You do have a way with words. It was cool enough this morning for me to brew up some coffee, raise the colors and sit on the deck and enjoy the am breeze. Only trouble is by being outside I noticed the grass has grown enough to cut once again.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rob.
DeleteWe can't order ammo on-line from Alaska: it's all shipped by ground, and ammo can't cross the Canadian border. If we can't find it up here - or get a friend to mail it to us - we do without.
ReplyDeleteHaving said all that, it's good to know you're back, hale & hearty. I've missed you, my friend.
Dadgum Canadians...
DeleteHow about a slow boat from Seattle?
Excellent suggestion. I will take one or two of these cool summer mornings and warm breezy afternoons and stash them away in my memory to bring out when the snow falls and the north wind howls. I'm so glad you're back with us.
ReplyDeleteNice to be back, Vicki...not if only this fog would clear from my brain and allow me to think and compose. Thanks, my sweet friend.
DeleteThis is the half of the year when life is good in Northern NH. My lovfely wife and I had my daughter and granddaughter on the sailboat. Osprey were up high, fish were jumping, and curious loons came right up to the boat.
ReplyDeleteThere were fresh moose tracks 100 feet from the house.
This where I spend my summers when I was a kid. Now it's my house.
I'd so love a trip to your area....but, man's gotta make a living. Thanks, my friend.
DeleteI'm not ready for summer, so bah humbug! :-) Glad to see you back online - we've missed your posting.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you & Sweet Wife.
~hobo
I missed posting...and I agree, hate summer...for the most part. Thanks, my friend.
DeleteMy friend, it is so good to see you back.
ReplyDeleteHeart felt blessings to you and sweet wife.
Thank you, very much, my good friend.
DeleteNice post I could fee what you were describing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, kristine....very nice of you.
DeleteGlad your back!!! We love your Rambles :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sweet Lady....I missed you too.
DeleteStephen,
ReplyDeleteRambling is a good thing!!!
If you watch your footsteps...thanks, Sweet Sandy.
Delete