Hi all! After some technical difficulties here in blog headquarters, we're back at it from our Rocky Mountain outpost. As many (probably all) of you reading this are aware, Charlotte and I took care of some business since we last met. We: (a) got a new car, (b) started our third year of graduate school (aka "PhD School"), and, oh yeah, (c) got married!!! We're happy about it all, but since you can find our wedding photos elsewhere, we won't dwell on that occasion. Nope, this isn't a post about our wedding. It's a post about guns. And not our stance on gun laws and gun regulations (spoiler alert: we're pretty doggone liberal, so we'll let you do the math), but a simple reality:
Guns are fun.
Well, at least that's true when you're extremely cautious, surrounded by knowledgeable folks, and in a beautiful setting. And that's exactly where we found ourselves the day before we departed Laramie to fly eastward and get married. As a wedding gift, our
very gun-savvy neighbors invited us to their family homestead about 30 minutes outside of Laramie for some shooting lessons and target practice under close supervision. It was absolutely gorgeous there, and well worth the drive just for the scenery.
That said, we soon found that an impromptu target range had materialized amidst the straight-out-of-a-Western setting.
Business time! First, a nice straightforward 0.22 rifle, to warm up the trigger fingers.
Next, we got to try our hands with a few semi-automatic handguns. These let you fire off a few rounds at a time, so in addition to target shooting, we were able to pull off that (surprisingly!) satisfying pow! pow! pow! effect that you see in cop dramas.
However, our time at the ranch was short (we had to pack for a wedding!!!), and there were 8 guns to try. So, after dialing our aim in a bit, we transitioned over to fun tasks, like testing out an awesome 6-shooter (just like you'd see in Western movies!)
And obliterating one of the worst books ever written (Martin Hollis'
The Philosophy of Social Science, if you were curious).
And using a massive .30-06 rifle (something you might employ to take down an elk, if you were so inclined) to dispense with a couple cans of shaving cream!
All in all, we had a lot of fun living a morning in true Western fashion, and are very grateful to our neighbors for their hospitality, generosity (bullets aren't cheap!), and expertise. While we won't be acquiring an arsenal any time soon, our morning on the ranch was proof that it's fun to step out of your comfort zone and embrace your surroundings, whatever that may entail! Anyway, until our next adventure made possible by Stella the Subaru, we hope you have a great week!
