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A Southerner finding peace in SoCal

So this week my wife and I have been prepping our backyard for a party this coming Sunday. I have helped assemble a gazebo, dug holes for plants, pruned shrubs, and swept the patio. One of the more gratifying chores has been the assembly of patio furniture. Getting a table and chairs put out on the patio, and a couple of faux wicker seats with large green cushions bisected by a steel fire pit next to it really rounds out the set.  From college to China, then first years of our marriage-- I have occupied a string of apartments, guest rooms, hotels and hostels. None of those places sported multiple citrus trees or a pair of semi-feral vagrant cats. Not to sound cliche, but this place is really special; one could call it a milestone.

As I sat in my green cushioned, faux wicker glider chair yesterday after work, I indulged in a handful of fresh kumquats. Yes, we have a productive kumquat tree adjacent to our patio. For those of you who haven't savored the exhilarating rush of kumquat consumption, it ambushes your taste buds. The fruit is consumed whole, skin and all. A light zephyr of sweetness emanates from the peel and sets you up for the sucker-punch tartness of the middle. It is like having a conversation with Christopher Walken about some esoteric hobby and having Robin Williams interrupt you.  The kumquat: enjoyable, yet surprising.

That backyard experience with near perfect weather, and the promise of an almost infinite growing season combined to ease my mind about being here for a while. I used to be edgy and feel "cramped" within the social and political structure of this state, but California is cool. Dang cool! I don't recall being able to have fish tacos en route to Home Depot in Alabama. Nor finding any bougainvillea in the garden section there :o)  Perhaps the peaceful feeling is a sign of my growing tolerance of people who have a wildly different (lackadaisical) world view.

Just another example today at work was from a colleague's comment. He told me that I possess an abundance of "useless information." I gently retorted that much of my reading and learning is solely for personal enrichment. That threw him sideways; he couldn't fathom studying and memorizing information just for the sake of knowledge.  I suppose my outlook is contrarian to my peers. While many of them see studying as a painful means to a necessary end, I see it as a positive lifelong habit. Never stop learning! And in the words of gun scribe LT Col. Jeff Cooper, "If it is worth remembering, WRITE it down!" So many things I think about writing down for the sake of posterity, but slip into the pit of procrastination. That is a dangerous trap one should avoid. Steer clear, remain vigilant, read the Proverbs, and always keep looking up.

A Drifter Looks at 30.

I always wanted to be a soldier since I was a little kid.  God had different plans for me.

Papah holding me 30 years ago

When I was very young, I felt my God-given passion for firearms meant that I should be a warfighter. Thankfully, there are other occupations that lead to world travel & firearms expertise. I will mention those jobs later on, but suffice it to say, I've had a good time doing things for the Lord overseas.

At three days old, I was diagnosed with a heart problem called Aortic Valve Stenosis. A corrective surgery fixed the problem until 1993, when I underwent a Ross Procedure, followed by another operation in 2006. My parents told me "This is God's way of keeping you out of harm." Which makes very good sense to a rambunctious boy who would have gotten injured in a contact sport, or gone to war (likely getting shot up or blown up like so many my age).

Having combat struck from my list of options, I chose to earn a Political Science degree from Alabama (Roll Tide Roll), and then teach English in China instead of attending law school. That decision has worked out phenomenally well. Sharing Jesus with folks overseas, while being paid to do it (provided furnished apartment, etc.) is a wonderful thing. My wife and I actually met at an orientation for prospective China teachers. Our friendship was forged in the heat of Wuhan, and on trips to an orphanage out in the countryside. I don't think I'd have found such a beautiful bride were I stationed in Baghdad or Kandahar.

Aside from working in Wuhan for a three year stretch, I also did some short trips to Fiji while in college. There in Suva, we studied with locals and had worship every evening. That whet my appetite for future travels. My conservative count of twelve countries (more if Scotland/Wales counted separately) pales in comparison to my wife's travels. In twenty-seven years she claims 40 countries visited. Many of hers were volunteer related, just like my trips to Fiji. Antarctica is the only continent that neither of us has been... yet.

We feel that travel provides a wealth of memories that no big house, fancy car, or flashy jewelry could ever provide. I hope my journeys inspire others to go to new places. Think of a place you've always thought was just out of reach; I'm sure with proper planning a trip can become feasible. One of the blessings of Christianity is that places all over the world are ready to host you if you're willing to donate a week or two of your time helping improve their community. Another thrifty way to travel is to visit your family... they will appreciate your smiling face much more in person than on Skype.

A final goal for my family is to visit each of the 50 states. Wife and I have already been to Hawaii and Alaska, and spent a week driving across America on I-40 from Alabama to California. Since most of what we haven't seen is along the East Coast, we feel this is well within reach. It would be a whole lot of fun to go in an RV with kids. I chose the handle "Bama Drifter" because I like to drift from one journey to the next. Where will you go?

A few of the places I visited instead of the Middle East...

Fiji
China
Vietnam
Cambodia
Laos
India
Great Britain (incl. Scotland & Wales)
Canada
Mexico
Namibia
Malawi
South Africa
---
Great Wall -Beijing
Terracotta Warriors -Xi'an
Angkor Wat -Siem Reap
London
Edinburgh
Shanghai
New York
Boston
Kauai
Malibu
Hong Kong
Alaska
Wyoming
Montana
-----
Sequoia
Joshua Tree
Grand Canyon
Yosemite
Denali

Yellowstone

Grand Tetons 

-----

Hunting in Alabama
Fishing in Alaska
50 mile canoe/fishing via Bissett, Manitoba
65 mile backpack/hiking at Philmont
Snow skiing in Colorado
Whale watching in Maui
African Safari (kudu, gemsbok, blue wildebeest, springbok, impala, jackal)

Places yet unseen...
Italy
Germany
Switzerland

Hero Laid to Rest whilst Murderous Nutjob Meets Demise

Chris Kyle 1974-2013

Today was the funeral at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas for Navy SEAL hero, Chris  Kyle. He was eulogized by fellow SEALs, friends, and his widow Taya. His final resting place is Texas State Cemetery in Austin. Lauded by many for his faith, character, and toughness I don't believe we will see another prolific sniper again like him for a very long time. It is tragic that he died young. It is shameful that our president failed to order flags to half staff or even acknowledge his passing. We live in a time when politicians in New Jersey order flags to half staff for pop star Whitney Houston's abysmal failure at life, yet our commander-in-chief does nothing for Chris Kyle, real American Hero. Most annoyingly today, when we should be remembering Hero Kyle, our national attention shifts to a fired LAPD officer who went on a vengeful killing spree this past weekend as "retribution" to an organization that somehow "wronged him."

Apparently, the now infamous nutjob Christopher Dorner was fired some years ago for making false accusations about his police trainer. How that translates into "time to kill the LAPD pigs" makes no sense to me. Pardon my expression in quotes, but that sentiment has been somewhat glorified by some online and in the media. His beef with the department, no matter the reason, doesn't excuse such grossly felonious behavior. This evening however, reports to the tune of "bad guy burned to death in mountain cabin" are popping up on news sites. Details are thin and I'm sure tomorrow morning will bring more lucid reports. Moral of the story: don't kill cops; they WILL kill you back.

Making this hit a little closer to home, my wife and I were stopped en route home from a date to make way for a convoy of 17 San Bernardino Sheriffs vehicles- lights blaring, sirens wailing into the night, mourning the loss of a comrade at Loma Linda Hospital. The killer had fled to Big Bear, holed up in a vacation home, and exchanged gunfire with law enforcement. The first two LEOs to the scene, SB Sheriffs Deputies, were shot then airlifted to Loma Linda, with one Deputy dying and the other in critical condition this afternoon. So the convoy were probably fellow officers of the wounded and deceased.

As I dropped my dear wife off at work to begin her shift, there were still media trucks outside the Emergency Room entrance. Strangely enough, I had passed a CNN marked news truck on my commute home (major freeway b/w LA and Big Bear) and thought how strange to see a media vehicle eastbound. The traffic report indicated that Hwy 38, which serves mountain communities was closed for police activity.  It has been a crazy couple of weeks. One hero laid to rest in Austin whilst a nutjob meets fiery demise in the mountains of Southern California.

Chris Kyle, USN : April 8, 1974 - February 2, 2013

The Devil of Ramadi

I first read about Chief Petty Officer Chris Kyle in an American Rifleman column last summer. The piece was promoting his new book, which I bought and read, "American Sniper." He seemed to me to be the epitome of the professional shooter. Born in Texas, shooting and hunting since age 8, and die hard American Warrior: he served multiple tours in Iraq as a Navy Seal sniper.  In his book he regarded Carlos Hathcock (Vietnam era sniper credited with 93 kills) as the best of all time, even though Kyle had over 150 confirmed kills over his 10 years of action. His longest (1.2 mile) shot was a self-described "lucky shot" that neutralized an insurgent aiming a rocket launcher at an American convoy. His Navy SEAL career earned him 2 Silver Stars, 5 Bronze Stars with Valor, and other commendations.

http://www.amazon.com/American-Sniper-Autobiography-Military-History/dp/0062082353

Most interesting to me is how Chief Kyle dealt with his return to civilian life. Upon honorable discharge from the Navy in 2009, he founded a precision marksmanship school, Craft International. He felt that thing to do with his skill set was to train others going into harm's way such as law enforcement, military, and private security professionals. His knowledge of rifle-craft was unparalleled, and the loss to long-range shooting will be sorely missed. Not only did he teach, Chief Kyle also tried to serve the needs of any veteran he met. His generosity and methodology unfortunately led to an untimely death this past weekend. A young veteran, whom I shall not name, killed Chris and another instructor at a Texas shooting range on Saturday. There was no motive given in the news reports, only descriptions who, what, and where. I never will understand why such awful tragic ends befall such upright men.

I won't open the PTSD issue here on my blog, but will point at this as another indicator on how poorly we understand and treat our emotionally scarred veterans. Chief Kyle left behind a wife, child, and legendary history as a true Patriot. America needs more guys like him.

Rest In Peace

http://www.thecraft.com/Remembering_Chris_Kyle.html 

FREE POPSICLES

Nothing goes better with guns than FREE Popsicles while you shop.
Come in today and be sure to ask for your FREE Popsicle.

Above excerpt is from a website for a Nevada gun shop. America is a great place. 

This is my BOOMSTICK!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFriRcIwqNU

A thorough history of America is a history of firearms. There are icons like Colt's Single Action Army revolver from the 1870s to Gaston Glock's steel and polymer creation from the 1980s. But one can't forget the importance of other game changing guns such as Great Britain's Baker Rifle and Brown Bess, as well as the Spanish arquebus.

To be fair, there are a number of firearms that were developmental stepping stones and were used only for a short time. Or some others that were great designs, but were beaten out of competition in military weapons trials. So the winners write history. What follows is a brief list of most of the winners.

1873 Springfield trapdoor carbine

Colt's Peacemaker

Winchester '73 (also chambered in .44-40)

Gatling machine gun

Winchester '94 & Marlin 336 (America's .30-30 deer rifle)

Marlin 39A (continuously produced since 1891)

1903 Springfield (US copy of 1898 Mauser, .30-06)

Colt's Government Model 1911 -the 1st .45 ACP (in case you reside under a rock or have a Mars passport)

Thompson sub-machine gun (Auto Ordnance & Colt)

Browning BAR (.30-06 machine gun)

M1 Garand (.30-06)

M1 Carbine

M14 (.308 Win, 7.62x51 NATO)

AR10... DPMS LR 308

M16... M4 Carbine... AR15 (.223 Rem, 5.56x45 NATO)

M2 .50BMG "Ma Deuce"

M60

FNH M249 SAW

Winchester Model 70

Smith & Wesson Model 29 (.44 magnum of Dirty Harry fame)

Ruger Super Blackhawk (toughest .44mag on the market)

Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle (more reliable .223 than an M4)

Glock 17 9mm (NATO approved since 1983, holstered by Miami PD since 1986)

This is a very short and incomplete list of what I feel are some great guns. More to follow later...

So what is an AR15?

The current bunch of whiz kids in Washington, DC and in several big cities often cite the horrible, ghastly, scary black guns known as "AR15" rifles as the weapon of choice for hoodlums and mentally ill killers.  What is often missed in their discussions is that these guns account for a TINY percentage of homicides and are near impossible to conceal for use in armed robbery.  In fact, more people are beaten to death each year than die from shotgun AND rifle fire.  The most used murder weapon is and always will be, the handgun. Let us save discussion on that for a later date.

Back to the black rifles.  These AR15's are often called "weapons of war" by ignorant politicians (Feinstein, Obama, Bloomberg, et al) who treat cosmetics and function as though they were one in the same. Yes, Colt's Defense manufactures guns for the U.S. military. NO, you and I are not permitted to buy the same guns. Civilians are able to purchase the neutered semi-auto version, but not the select-fire M4 Carbine issued to troops in Afghanistan. While barrels, grips, sights and other parts may be identical-- the fact remains that an AR15's fire control group (trigger, hammer, safety) or "guts" is what separates an "M4 clone" from the select-fire real McCoy. Why would politicians want to ban a semi-auto rifle that is statistically insignificant in regards to crime? We have to dig a little deeper.

Ever since the days of old, when trappers and mountain men journeyed deeper into the frontier, they always went armed with the same (if not better) guns used by our boys in the Army. From colonial volunteers, to Davy Crocket at the Alamo-- from the fields of Gettysburg, all the way up to the Korean War-- citizens were trusted with the arms used by our infantry to defend their homes and encouraged to practice at the range.  It was not until government planners adopted a "full-auto, pray & spray" mentality during Vietnam that our servicemen used something not available for civilian purchase after the war.  Many at the time, and still today, see this as a step backwards.  The M16/AR15 family of rifles chambered in .223 Rem/5.56 NATO was engineered as a counterbalance to 'bad guys' shooting us up with an AK47. 

I hope to have gained your curiosity and attention with this post.  TO BE CONTINUED...

Back in the saddle

So in case you have missed what's happened since my last post:

1. I recovered from an unusual infection.
2. We celebrated Thanksgiving in Coronado & Christmas at home.
3. The "gun debate" was reopened after a lunatic shot 26 folks in Newtown, CT. Feinstein, Obama, Biden and their Leftist Media handlers take it as an opportunity to demonize an inanimate object that accounts for fewer deaths per year than hands/feet or hammers. Typical I suppose.


While I am very thankful for #'s 1 & 2, #3 has created quite a headache for us at my workplace. My job is selling guns and ammo at Bass Pro. It is the closest thing to a 'perfect job' that I will not mention the pay, hours, or commute on Southern California's freeways. I really enjoy being a gun dealer.

Let me give you some numbers to get an idea of our volume since the CT Massacre. Prior to December, selling 50+ guns in a weekend was quite an achievement. Sure, we'd blow them out on Black Friday, but that was an exceptional event. Well, three weekends ago, we sold 85 guns on Saturday, then 92 guns Sunday. Our sales volume for the Hunting Department beat out entire stores including the Springfield flagship store (10X the size of our Hunting Dept). There were only 4 stores that matched us that weekend.

First, we sold out of AR15 rifles and the .223 ammo to feed them. Next, we sold out of ammo the following week for most popular calibers, and then ran out of pistols (except single-action revolvers and .22s). As of Friday afternoon, there was no .45ACP; .40; 9mm; .380; .357mag; .44mag; .308; or .223 ammo in our store. Customers are being told check back in 30 to 60 days, but I don't see us having pre-December levels of product available till summer.

So to keep up with this high demand, I have been re-assigned to handle emails and customer inquiries. My boss forwards anything gun related to me and I, the firearm specialist, respond (usually we're sold out) to what they are looking for. It has been much more lively than just stocking shelves and serving counter customers. I had the pleasure of selling one gentleman 6 Colt rifles and his buddy 4 of the same. Receipts were large for those two purchases.  The boss and I hope that business calms down sometime soon so that our regular customers can find what they need.

If you have any questions about firearms, stay tuned... I am hoping to steer this page towards a "Gun Blog" theme at my family's request.