What a terrible Appleseed, Dude, can't you keep it together?

  No I can't.... but I can feel bad and complain to myself. Great heroic day of riding the Expresso.com bike at the YMCA on Thursday 32.7 miles, getting a dime a mile and accolades from their staff. But I am in demand. Yanni, our Project Contractor for the kitchen remodel, and new flooring wants me and my wife in Seattle. I hate Seattle, stupid Liberals Anti-Gunner central. I don't want to go, but God and my wife love me and my bad attitude won't get better driving around with my imagination of the evil there. The shopping went well and Yanni wants money on Monday, put it on my to do list, get ready for the Appleseed in Redmond, this weekend. No one ever knows the burdens we bear, how old we feel or don't feel until...  Must have been hiding my hate on my face or heart, my wife flees to her friends for food and talk and I sleep on alone, big home for two living as alonely.

  So quick review of the letter from guest Green Hat, the shoot boss. He wants us in Red Shirts and presenting a professional appearance... I think he is arrogant and I add him to the list of AntiGun Leftists in the world, can't be right he is a real competitor in the rifle and pistol world, isn't he? Never met the man... Car loaded out and on the road before six will be there at seven for the instructor meeting, lots of familiar faces. I am late, they started the briefing without me, and I feel the undercurrent from others about the shoot boss, he is going to straighten us out... perceptions and expectations aren't like our normal. But he has his way of making us better. And we aren't the others, we are the ones that showed up, I toy with driving back home and signing up for helping the Appleseed in Oregon at the end of the month. I don't, because I am reminded the event isn't about me or any of the instructors, it is all about the shooters. So I get to go hand out t-shirts and help Flipper get folks signed in. There are very nice name tags laid out, so everyone has a familiar label to be called by name, pin to hats and we will all be a fine shooting community of no longer strangers.

  Some very familiar faces on the firing line, they all remember me and I get some smiles and hellos. The tension between instructors and Shoot Boss isn't noted that I noticed, but I do see waiting by the crew for the shoot boss for 'what are we doing next/' Eighteen rounds by lunch? One Redcoat and a five rounds on the sighting square?  Part of our getting our ducks in order is presentation of Pistoleer Award to two shooters and one daughter of Ben, another winner. Not cool for rifle shooters looking to earn their own awards to see something that they can't get here, by folks they don't know, but are instructors and safety folks, I would have waited on getting the shooters and instruction crew working as a team before a pleasant sidetrack for past performance. Maybe someone might die before the unit gets together again as a whole. A reason we award thanks and note valor when happening in combat, can't wait for return to Base Camp nor Star Trek Enterprise.

  I get the prehistory and the First Strike of the Match, and it was only supposed to be twenty minutes, but I get the hurry up sign from the Shoot Boss - cause I have so much to share as the tale teller. But they march out of Lexington leaving eight dead and many dismayed Rebels behind...I think I was closer to thirty-five minutes than twenty.

   I find my first weakness, I can't get up from the demo position, and not having worked with the instructor before his 'don't get ahead of the instruction' was disconcerting I was waiting for him to tell me what to model next, a demo person doesn't speak until after if asked by the instructor.  Anyway, I was being helped to my feet by a young woman and two men - how do I get so old? You know I didn't want any help just some space and my walking stick. I don't accept the young ladies help, cause I don't accept the men's much either, attitude and stupidity on my part, which I note isn't getting anyone shooting safely on target again. Sigh...

   The lunch time shows up. I wisely stay as line Boss to watch the rifles on line as everyone else goes up to the club house for the Second Strike of the Match and lunch, bathroom breaks become a chore, seems the plumbing isn't free flowing enough, going from two restrooms to one. One of our newer IITs brings me a hot cup of ramyon noodles. I thank him for his thoughtfulness and repay him later. Over all we are teaching or listening to the shootboss instruct everything at his pace and to his standards, and we aren't working well together, starting to look for his mistakes, how we are falling behind and not emphasizing safety. There are also way more instructors than normal, which should be great but we are almost in each others way, the smartest of us start shrinking back and gently correcting the shooters trying to get them to stay on process completing each step and not forgetting anything as the fire on targets. Only one AQT finally on the first day and we clean up to go home and a meal. I can't stay for the instructors dinner, where I understand the having a beer will be pounced upon as totally unacceptable. I wasn't there and don't drink beer unless I have just completed a marathon, ha, ha. That was long ago and when I wasn't drinking anything. Lot of old time memories coming back up, I did mention to the Shoot Boss the old conflict between the back East Headquarters and those of us on the line in our home country or states. He quellshed me quickly, but I have been poking headquarters and staff pukes for too long, I know when my opinions aren't needed -they already have all the answers. Just do it their way, they will go away soon enough. Sigh.

  I did make it home, my wife was talking on the phone, a lovely supper waiting for me, I could get cleaned up, check FoxNews or Japanese Public television to find it hadn't all gone to hell while I was away. Bloomberg was still promising to spend a fortune disarming the peaceful public or at least getting them down to three round bursts. Forgive them, LORD, they know not what they do.

   I do wake up to knowing I hurt and need to move, and the second day begins in the dark, did y'all see that Moon Saturday night? WOW! no cloud cover where you are. Did I mention Saturday was many downpours or steady drizzle and wet is cold. Second day has same beautiful Full moon and not clouds after the morning mist burns away, and I am sick. I pack out much Appleseed extras to give away, lots of reading and notebooks and patches and hanging maps for Will to use in instructing and advertising. Ah, my pile of stuff to move out is getting smaller at home, keep moving, get there again by seven thirty cause we are so set up already. Alexa is really working with me, Blues at night and Southern Gospel in the morning, the Lord loves me. I pick up an instructor sweat shirt to give to ctorg since he needs one to cover his arms against the cold and slingloop.

Kevin is so close but only close.

   Except for being a beautiful day, having lost a couple of shooters over night, maybe their bodies didn't take the wet cold, and weather any better than mine. I finally accepted I was ill, the day sped by and I remember I caught some shooter faults but wasn't effective since we had a round fired from a rifle into the berm, when it shouldn't have been loaded. Process and sequences were not at work, maybe because we still weren't a team going in the same direction. We did get some fine shooters making Rifleman scores, and taking up the IIT hat so I was okay going away early to get home and die quietly, or allow my loving wife to beat me back to better health. I left a shooting mat behind and Andy picked it up and messaged me.

  It is six on Monday morning here, I can go back to bed for a nap, and I will, being retired retired means no one needs me... but then Bloomberg doesn't know I and my millions exist does he? American! armed and at Liberty under the LORD. The two days of the Appleseed we had an Asian couple watching us through the wire fence, I talked to them the second day and told them what we were doing - they thanked me for the information. But I did remind them that we are Americans, we have guns and we shoot them. One of our shooters said his wife is Chinese and she had a relative that learned to shoot an AK in high school, but the rifles all get locked up by the state after the training is over. Yep, that sounds correct, and in Russia on the farms they still have their guns for wolves and lonely state agents of agitation.