Me and this gun go way back...

So I just got in from my second hunting 'expedition' after a near 20 year layover. I'm not really sure why it took me this long to get back at it. I used to hunt some when I lived in WV but ever since we moved to Texas it just never started back up.
Things were bound to change eventually since I live in Austin and one of my best friends here has a veritable arsenal in his house and loves to hunt. So anyway over the long weekend I decided to bite the bullet, so to speak, and buy my first rifle. To tell the truth it's the first gun I've ever personally owned. Before now, I've always used guns borrowed from dad. So needless to say, I'm pretty proud. Not only am I proud of the deal I got on a gun that was probably worth a couple hundred dollars more than I paid for it but also of the gun itself. The gun is a Winchester 1894 and shoots 44 magnum shells. I love it for a couple of reasons.

The first is because it stirs the echos in my past a little bit. When I was about waist high to the average adult, I had a cap gun that fed the old style paper reel of caps through it. Its lever action and overall style was designed to look exactly like the gun I currently own. Not only that but through a little detective work on the serial number, I've concluded that, at about the same time I was popping caps at anything that moved with that old gun, the real deal that I just bought was rolling off the assembly line over at Winchester. But I digress. The real story of that old cap gun is how much it reminds me of my Granddad. He was a great man that always made time for his youngest grandson. He was also a smoker which in most instances is something I wish he hadn't done. One time however, when I came around with my little plastic Winchester he called me over. He had me hold it up while he put his mouth to the barrel and blew into it. Then he held his finger over the end and said, "Now shoot!" So I did and as the cap cracked he pulled his finger off the barrel and smoke began to slowly rise from the end. I couldn't believe it, this had to be the coolest thing ever. And even though it had been it had been almost 20 years since that day, I knew when I saw this gun... I had to buy it.

The second big reason I love it is that I look at it and just feel history. You have to understand that, for the most part, this gun's design has remained unchanged since it's invention over 100 years ago. This is a gun that was used by John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and every male in your family who's ever shot at something in the past 100 years. People have hunted everything from rabbits to polar bears with them depending on the caliber and lived to tell about it. The Earps used it when they weren't toting pistols, the bad guys that shot back were using them too. So when a twig snaps, I reach for the hammer, just like guys have been doing since the turn of last century.

So maybe it's cranking the lever back on that old gun, or maybe it's the nature, or maybe it's just hanging out with my good buddy. No matter what it is, somehow the fact that I can do little more than shoot at stuff... doesn't really matter.

Overheard at WoRMS
Kid 1: Can I tell a quick story about Hawaii?
Kid 2: Nobody wants your dumb story.
Kid 1: That's rude!
Kid 2: It's true though.
Kid 3: (consoling Kid 1) He's right actually.
Me: ::Shakes Head::