Day Off: Confession. Way too much fun.

In these days of idiot political lockdowns trying to scare good Americans it’s important to get out in nature, do up some wholesome recreation, see friends, go to Confession. Find a way to do these things if you can. Make a concerted effort. Get friends to help you if need be. Friends are always good to be friends with. :-)

The other day brought yours truly all over North Carolina, with a very late start to the day because of black ice in this furthest-west mountainous part of the state. There were four stops to be made. The first was logistic, the second provided a “flower for the Immaculate Conception” (more on that later), the third was for Confession (thank you, Jesus!), the fourth was… (more on that below).

Meanwhile, outside of the “four lane” as the locals call the interstate system, Sassy the Subaru bounced the curves of over 100 miles of extreme mountain roads. The steering wheel often went fully 90ﾟor 180ﾟand more in one direction and instantly in the other, back and forth, making the car actually bounce the suspension. Waaay tooo much fun for this priest. Thank you, Jesus!

Back to the fourth stop. I had been invited to use a private range during the last moments of daylight. I was hoping I would be able to do that as I had a new magazine of a type never used in my Glock previously. I really had to put out some rounds out in order to trust its mechanics and to see what would happen to any would-be flip. Because there is no ammo to be had which isn’t four weeks out and four times the price, target practice is pretty much otherwise out of the question. But this was necessary.

Result: I totally couldn’t believe it. I’ve been beating myself up in this time of Wuhan idiocy, thinking that surely I’m not a natural at gunslingery and therefore the fundamentals and the accuracy and speed would have degraded somewhat with little to no practice. But his wasn’t the case at all. Not. At. All.

Single shots from a locked holster 25 feet out were under time and dead-on for the pre-2001 Federal Air Marshal course (and using a much smaller target). I only did a few of these as there was obviously no need to do more. Great! Best I’ve ever shot, especially cold barrel. Single shots and double taps with the new and weird magazine were also dead on. I emptied that magazine as I had to see if the spring would work the whole way though. All good. That put a smile on my face. That kind of experience to be had a myriad wholesome ways is important. Think of some and do them up in what ways you can.

There was no time for pictures. Just time for the Angelus, and then racing the roads. So, the top pic is from years ago, two overlapping Folgers Breakfast Blend plastic tops (depicting a hostage situation). The idea back in the day was to spin around 30 feet out and instantly take the shot, only hitting – ever – the plastic cover in the back representing the head of the perp (to the left in the pic), entirely avoiding the overlapping cover representing the head of the hostage (to the right in the pic). I must have gotten some muscle memory that day. I remember it well, in detail. Something like 450 rounds without missing even once.

The few rounds I put out on the Day Off the other day were a great recreation, getting me out in nature, and the speed and accuracy gave me some confidence. Over confidence would be bad, and there were two traffic events yesterday, right at the start and right at the end, which had me develop some situational awareness, a hoot altogether. I had to laugh out loud at both. More on that… later.