When I say nothing, often it’s because I have nothing to say.
Then again, sometimes I go silent when there’s so much rattling around in my head that I’m unwilling to invest the effort in expressing it. And so I retreat to a quiet place.
The last few days, it’s been the latter.
One of my Ohio friends posted a quote to Facebook a couple of days ago, and it provoked constructive thought. This:
“The peace you feel without their presence in your life, is worth being the villain in their story.”
That resonated with me immediately — but only briefly. I got to thinking about whether or not it matches my life.
It doesn’t.
Beyond the plain facts of circumstance, my world isn’t defined by the absence of something. On the contrary, it’s determined by presence — my presence, my engagement, my participation in my own life.
To say that my peace is worth the role I play in another’s story implies a price I’ve paid, an exchange I made.
I reject the idea that I traded one for the other. I struck no such bargain. I harbor no villains.
I created this peace.
The earlier quote comes from a self-help author by the name of Daniel Chidiac. Ironically, it appeared in his book entitled, Stop Letting Everything Affect You — which itself is great advice.
What begs the irony, though, it seems to me, is that joining one’s peace to the narrative of another is completely at odds with being unaffected. Even if it’s only for the sake of context, it’s the very definition of being at the effect of others.
Ultimately, of course, it’s up to each of us to choose which path to follow. Regardless, we make our own hell. Likewise, we have the power to create our own heaven.
I’ve made my choice.
. . .
Looking back on Thursday’s post discussing the Victorinox Búndeswehr knife, I saw that I could’ve done a better job of illustrating it. I’ll try to correct that now with a few images.
. . .
For all the time I’ve spent on my new range, I haven’t squeezed off a single shot with one particular round I carry every day. In fact, it’s been over three-and-a-half years since I’ve fired it.
That’s not a big deal, honestly — .38 Special snake shot isn’t exactly a precision cartridge.
Thing is, between November of 2022 and now, I’ve switched to a different snake load. And though I “patterned” the CCI I carried previously in my Smith & Wesson 638-3 (pictured, below), I haven’t yet done that with the new Doubletap.
I’ve shot neither round in my Taurus Model 66. I definitely need to do that.
It’s a simple exercise — from the expected engagement distance (four or five yards in this case), fire a round or two at a sheet of cardboard and gauge the spread of the pellets at that range. I’ll shoot both cartridges from both guns. I’m anxious to see how they compare.
The CCI is 100gr of #9 shot. The Doubletap also is loaded with #9 shot, but leading the charge is a hard-cast wadcutter (slug), bringing total projectile weight to 130gr.
Especially interesting will be each round’s performance from the different barrel lengths — 1.88 inches on the snubby Smith, four on the large-frame Taurus.
I pulled the ammo out of storage today and put it with my range kit. Next time out, we’ll see how it goes.
I was seated at the picnic table around 8am this morning, by myself, when I heard a bird call I couldn’t quite place. My Merlin app solved the puzzle — high in the oaks across the road, it was a red-shouldered hawk staking out his hunting ground.
Merlin tells me that it’s now logged and identified the voices of 56 species of birds here on The Mountain. That’s pretty cool.
On the visual side of things, I rely on Seek, mostly to help identify plant life. The app says that I’ve recorded a total of 66 plants, 22 insects, three arachnids, two mammals, two birds, three reptiles and a fungus.
Here are my most recent observations.
To be clear, I don’t go looking for new species. I incorporate my curiosity into day-to-day living — if I see (or hear) something unusual or unfamiliar, I’ll look it up.
It’s all about the knowledge.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable