Today’s story: rain. The forecast came true. For once, heavy weather didn’t split and go around us.
Drizzle began around 6:30am. An hour later, we were getting drenched.
Along with the wet stuff came storms — or was it the other way around? Anyway, early this afternoon we were treated to enthusiastic thunder and lightning. One bolt, which struck in a neighbor’s backyard, rattled the cabin walls.
Downpours tapered off to showers shortly after 3pm.
There’s more to our Tuesday than a weather report, of course.
Miss Smudge was a stitch, leaping to bite at falling drops and barking at the ground where they landed. (When it rains, she becomes a poor example of her breed’s reputation for intelligence.)
After yesterday’s brief outing with my revolvers, I took time today to clean and lube both. The Taurus needed particular attention — its cylinder had become difficult to open. Turns out the ejector rod had backed off a bit and was jamming the cylinder into the breech face. Easy fix (lefty-tighty).
And we ran a few errands in Yellville.
In the usual spot, eight whitetails today. Seven stuck around while we drove by.
(No turkeys.)
The very sight calms me. It’s hard to explain.
Everything on the Internet is forever.
Flying Dutchmen ply the waters of the wwWeb, their once-bright voyages all but forgotten, cursed for all time to drift over the waves and never again see port. Much of my work, both professional and personal, has met such a fate.
Owners manuals I wrote for products now obsolete. Speeches delivered by executives who no longer inhabit this good Earth. Press releases for companies and organizations which no longer exist.
And yeah, a couple of blogs. One of those goes back to a stint in the knife industry, and though my former employer buried it, hundreds of posts survive in search results.
This morning, for reasons I can’t explain to you, I half-remembered a quote from an interview I did with Jeff Randall, founder of Randall’s Adventure Training (RAT) and RAT Cutlery (now ESEE Knives). I surfed into the knife retailer’s website, did a quick search and found what I’d written in 2010.
Here’s how I reported what Randall said to me:
“I never carry [an ESEE knife] into the jungle — I always carry someone else’s knife. Really, just give me a three-blade Old Timer and a ten-dollar machete.”
Make no mistake, he was (justifiably) proud of RAT/ESEE knives, both their design and their quality. His experience training civilians, cops and military in Central and South America gave him a more valuable perspective:
“The biggest fallacy is that gear is necessary to survive. You can’t get by on gear — you need skills.”
Then came the payoff:
“You need to prepare in every aspect of life. And if you don’t have the proper mindset, you’re going to die.”
He’s so very right about that — all of it. With respect, however, from my own experience and perspective, I want to add something to what he said.
If you’re unprepared and your mindset sucks, yes, you’re gonna die — but not right away.
First, you’ll quit. Then you’ll die.
I believe Jeff Randall would agree.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable