A Visit to Arlington National Cemetary

Some of the very interesting personal headstones at Arlington.

Apparently, in no particular order, here are some pictures of our recent trip to Arlington.

It was a very profound experience.  Row after row after row of headstones, some as far as the eye could see.

 

All telling a very personal story.

It is hard to see the eternal flame burning, but this is the very simple plot where John F and Jacqueline Kennedy lie.  To the left of them is John Jr. and over to the right a stillborn child.

We arrived at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers just in time to see the changing of the guard.  These men stand watch 24/7 no matter what the weather,  out of repect and honor for their fallen brothers.  It boggles my mind to think that they do this in those uniforms in the heat of the day.

We were privelged to witness the internment ceremony for a fallen soldier.  It was a very solemn and moving experience.  If ever you have the opportunity to visit, make sure to give yourself plenty of time.  It is well worth the effort.

You Can Call Me "The Shootist"

Recently, Rick has renewed his interest in shooting.  He went a couple of weeks ago and renewed his "conceal/carry" permit, which allows him to carry a pistol any where he wants.  Not that he actually carries it any where, but if he wanted to he could.  Arizona recently passed a law that says anyone can carry a concealed weapon, but there are certain places that you are not allowed to without the permit.  In order to insure that you don't accidently forget and carry it in to one of these places they encourage the permit.

Any way, I decided maybe I should learn to shoot.  I'm not sure why.  I have no interest in carrying a weapon anywhere, and I have never even actually shot one before.

We decided to go over to the shooting range today and have me give it a try.  Now, don't try this at home.  I am not sure if this was just beginners luck or what, but I managed to hit the mark with my first 5 shots.  I was really surprised.  These were all at 10 ft.

I guess the range master was watching and came over to give me a few pointers and got another weapon for me to try.  Then he set us up as if we were going to shoot to qualify for a conceal/carry permit.  He had us fire 5 rounds at 15 ft. and another 5 rounds at 30 ft.  The ones circled in red are mine, for a 95%.  Not bad for an older lady on her first try.

After we both tried that, I decided to try head shots at 15 ft.  Again, I surprised myself at actually hitting the target 5 for 5.  Granted, the one may have only shot of part of an ear, but I bet that would HURT!

It was actually pretty fun and Rick added me to his membership.

The moral of this story is... don't mess with me.  Before long I may be packin' a snub-nosed .38.  A real pistol packin' granny!

The Bad Ass Boy Dog Strikes Again

I am just about to the point of giving up on this blog.  They have 'improved' it until I can hardly stand to try and work with it.  But, I digress.

Our bad ass boy dog has finally gone and caught himself a gopher.  He was extremely proud of himself, and we went way over board congratulating him and telling him 'good boy'.  We are hoping that he was impressed enough to keep after it.  Where there is one, I am sure there are a dozen.  Granted, this one was pretty small, but it is better than not getting one at all!

Ginger was very excited to help dig, but I doubt she would know what to do with the varmint if she did get one.  Notice she looks a little bit hesitant about the whole thing.

I stand corrected!  A day after I first posted this Gingie got in to the action by tossing around a varmit of her own.  Well, Whiskey actually caught it, but once it was down she had a go at it.  Looks like we are finally thinning the herd.