Snow

Ferrets and Guns

I feel like I have some sort of obligation to post on the mall shooting here in Omaha. But I really don't have much to say. It mostly comes down to these kids having shitty parents and friends. And how easy it is to get assault rifles. I remember back when Billy and I were wee pups of 17 or so, we drove the Cougar down to the Rutledge Missouri flee market/swap meet thingy. It was like a giant hill billy garage sale. Billy found a couple of good 'ole boys selling an SKS rifle, which is like the Chinese equivalent to the AK-47 or something. I think it was around $100 or so. I loaned Billy an extra $40 or $60 to get it. So we picked up an assault rifle for an even c note, no papers to sign. No idea who we were. We could have robbed a bank with the gun, wiped the finger prints off. Dropped it in the foyer while leaving, and there would have been no way to trace that particular gun back to us. Happily we were neither bank robbers nor psychos, so that gun did no damage to objects that were animate. I hope it's harder for 17 year olds to get guns like that today. But somehow I doubt it.

What did I get? Well, I nearly bought a ferret, and right now I can't remember why I didn't. Mom would have loved that. I probably didn't get the rodent due to my loaning Billy most of my folding money. I should thank him for that. In the end I picked up a used Damn Yankees cassette for an even 99 cents.

Those two purchases are accurate descriptors of who Billy and I were at the time. One must wonder how we became such good friends.

Red Bird

We hung up this swanky new bird feeder on Thanksgiving, and already we're getting high brow clientèle- like this refined cardinal.

This photo was taken with our new telephoto lens, so you can expect more bird pictures as the winter progresses. Along with a pictures of the elusive black squirrel, I assure you. I hadn't seen him for a couple of months, but with the foliage from the trees gone I've noticed him scampering through the forest recently.