All is well

After the camp stuff (which was pretty darn fun really) all has been OK. Nothing really big, some good, some bad. I guess it's what you'd call fair to midland. My kids are OK overall, alternative ed has finally started to go the direction that I believe it should and I'm getting used to my new curriculum. That's about it really on the education front.
I'm having fun overall, but still feel that I'm way short on time this year. I'm not doing nearly as much outside of my normal teaching as I did last year. Each day is just so packed full any more. I haven't even picked up a guitar at home since school started. I put the Barracuda away for the winter (after a couple of last runs) and covered it up until some time in the future.
I do have a brother that is preparing to move to the west coast. He's been in town for a couple of days before taking off for a new job. His job requires regular small arms tests so we went to my gun club to be sure he'd qualify. He shoots well enough, but he hasn't been shooting anything at long ranges lately. We took one of my varmint rifles to see what would happen. The smile on his face when he heard the pronounced crack of a small piece of lead being propelled at nearly 4,000 feet per second was well worth the rounds wasted. He seemed to really enjoy hearing the shots hit the metal targets at about 300 yards. Just think about your football field, and multiply that by 3 and you'll have some idea of the distance. Hitting the targets, which are slightly larger than the average smoke detector in your home is pretty amazing. At that distance, you can clearly see the target move and the bullet shatter (through decent optics) long before the sound gets to you. I guess you get used to the things that you do in your area. That's just one of the benefits of me living where I do. It costs 15 bucks a year to be a member at that club and in less than 10 minutes I can be launching lead down range. Just another thing that helps with the stress and keeps me interested in this place.
As winter begins to exert its imminent strangle hold on the landscape, I think of the possibilities this brings. From the start of our small game season, to the big game season and ending with the final blowout of flint lock muzzle loaders after Christmas, I have a pretty good set of options. Not to mention the winter hiking, maybe camping this year and unfortunately the seemingly endless shoveling. Life doesn't end with the cold weather, you just have to adjust a bit. So, as many of our older folks, those with money and families on vacation head toward you in the south, just remember that no matter where you are, life is what you make of it. It can really suck if you let it. The daily grind gets pretty old. I choose to keep myself happy and enjoy what I have in what ever season it may be here. I know that I've been pretty negative in the past, but figure that I'll do what I can to control what I can and put up with the rest. After all, it could be a lot worse. I think I'll pick up my guitar and just play for while, get the fingers moving and just enjoy the sounds. Tomorrow brings yet another day of work. Three jobs, seven days a week gets old, but I like most parts of all of them so for now I'll just keep going and trying to get ahead.
Good luck and stop long enough to find something good with your current situation, try something new or get back to something you've neglected. Just enjoy.
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