... Greatly exaggerated.

I had to knock the dust off this thing eventually.

Looking at my post list, the last thing I published here was 5/21/16.

One week after that, my wife walked out. She's long gone, the judge signed what needed signing, and that's all I'll say about that.

I didn't have anything I wanted to share publicly for a while... but now I'm back. Might still be sparse, but when I have some brain droppings for the world, here they'll land.

I've rediscovered my love of photography, and have started printing black and white film at home. I'm still doing lots of digital, because it's inexpensive - but it doesn't match the alchemy of a dim red room and trays of magic.

I've started back to school, a class or two per semester because that's what my time and budget allow. I should have something to hang on the wall by spring next year.

I've not done much with guns lately, because I haven't had time - or much desire to visit the local public ranges, where RSOs are constantly screeching "ONE SHOT EVERY FIVE SECONDS!" I need to explore some other option. Most of my annual shooting happens in October out west, and that's not enough to keep the rust off.

Right now ... life is in a pretty damn good place. Sure, there are stressors, ups and downs, but I've got a decent job, a wonderful lady, enough money for a few luxuries, and a pretty solid plan for the next year or two.

Stay tuned.

Just pining for the fjords

... it's been a busy spring. Lots of work, work is busy enough that I don't have the capacity to brain a few sentences here and there into a complete post, and when I'm home I spend time with family, not staring at a laptop. It's mostly been a conscious choice - there's too much life to live outside.

Summer is rapidly descending on us in flyover land, and I'm already making vacation plans left and right. Texas, New York, Colorado... and if I can snag a long weekend somewhere in there I'm going to try for a few nights of camping a bit more locally.

I haven't been shooting in months, which is starting to grind my gears a bit. I'll have to make some time for the range shortly and knock some of the dust off... not to mention putting a few rounds through three (!) new-to-me pistols that haven't been out yet.

Several of my friends and tribe are off in Louisville for the NRA Expo. I hope they're having a good time - I know we did in Pittsburgh, which was the first and only time I met some of youse clowns. Looking forward to the pictures and floor reports with tastes of what's coming. (The Shield .45 has my attention for the moment.)

Thoughts and prayers with Brussels this morning

Multiple explosions in Brussels, Belgium this morning. Reportedly two at the airport, and a third at a metro station. Some reports of a third device, undetonated, located at the airport.

Listening to Sky News quietly in the background, and they are being refreshingly honest about the inability to secure places like airport check-in lanes and metro stations. It's an unfortunate truth: a determined and dedicated attacker can not be stopped with zero casualties.

Question: If Johnny Jihad wants to strap on a Semtex vest and wander in to your local airport, at what point is he going to be detected? What if it's a NY subway station? Ever seen Grand Central or Penn Station at rush hour? A ballgame?

Where does the security begin? When you arrive at an airport, think about the usual course of events:
- park the car, wait for the bus to the terminal
- ride the bus with 5-20 strangers and their luggage
- enter the terminal for check-in, stand in line with 20-200 strangers and their luggage
- stand in line for Security Theater with dozens or hundreds of strangers and their carry-on

There is no good answer.

turkey recipe

The turkey took a long time to cook but was incredible. Brined 24 hours in:
4 vegetable bouillon cubes
1 onion, quartered
2 small carrots, chopped
1 cup salt
1 cup brown sugar
4-5 bay leaves
1/4 cup minced garlic
1 tablespoon rosemary
1 teaspoon pepper corns
8-10 whole cloves
1 gallon water
Bring above to simmer and cook for 1-2 hours. Chill.

Rinse turkey and put in a large bucket, add brine, and add water to cover. Put in the fridge and wait.

On cooking day, remove from brine and pat dry. Quarter another onion, an apple (granny smith!), and an orange. Put the onion and apple in the bird's cavity. Put the orange slices (peel on) in the bottom of the roaster around the bird. Pour a half-inch of apple cider into the bottom of the roaster pan.

Slit the skin in various places and put a pat of butter in each slit, total about 2/3 stick of butter for a large bird. (Put the remainder in the cavity.)

Rub the entire outside of the bird with olive oil and dust liberally with salt and pepper.

Roast at 350F, tightly covered with foil until the last 30-45 minutes. Remove the foil to brown the skin.

Remove the bird from the oven and rest, covered, for at least 30 minutes.

CARVE AND OVEREAT.

I've a problem...

... being allowed to play on a legitimate long-range range has utterly spoiled me.

I'm going to visit the public range in the next week or so to check zero on my deer rifle, which means popping a few rounds at 100yd to make sure I'm still minute-of-deer out to 250ish.

But after the luxury of a 750-yard playground earlier this month, I've had a few realizations...

One: Having the room to play at long distance is wonderful.

Truly, nothing can wring out both equipment and shooter like working with distances of a quarter-mile or more. Simply finding a target can be a challenge. Then comes the task of positively identifying it, even with a reasonably powerful scope. I found out that my budget mil-dot scopes (Bushnell Elite 3200s) are pretty good scopes for the price, but they sure don't compare with scopes that cost a few times more. When you're doing most of your shooting at 100-200 yards, the aberrations in an inexpensive scope aren't as relevant.

Two: It might be counterintuitive, but I shoot less at long range than I do at short.

I've never been much of one for mag dumps to begin with - they're a great way to turn money into smoke and noise, but for effective fire they're not so useful. An Appleseed instructor (and former military guy) I knew back on the East Coast used to say that while full auto was okay for making someone keep their head down, nothing encouraged it like accurate aimed fire.

If I want to make my shots count, I'm taking my time on them to a certain extent. Holding for a pause in the wind. Waiting on mirage. Watching the grasses and leaves subconsciously to see where the gusts are doing funny things. And yes, keeping the barrel cool.

Three: A good shooter can make any rifle work; a good rifle won't make a bad shooter work.

I was lucky to have some very good shooters who were very happy to coach and help me with distance. I'm also fortunate enough to have a few rifles that are capable of effective accuracy at the ranges we were playing with. And yes, I was able to feed my ego a little bit, because I'm not a bad rifle shot. Once I got a feel for how my rifles were handling, and with good wind calls from good spotters, dropping shots in at distance was challenging but not frustrating.

While sitting with MattG popping prairie dogs, he spotted one out on its mound around 375-400 yards. I dialed up a few clicks of elevation, held a half-mil of Kentucky windage, and let fly. I missed.

By four inches. Laterally. My wind call was off, my elevation was perfect. I'm awful proud of that miss.

Four: At any kind of significant distance, reactive targets are almost mandatory. Punching paper is great for getting a zero, after that it's much more effective to ring steel. And if you have the space to do it, boomer targets are even better. Like, for instance, a defunct car with a bit of dynamite stuffed into it:

That's a lasered 300ish yards, on a target about the size of a pop bottle, with the winds one might expect from the high prairie in the afternoon. The rifle is one I spun together from a bunch of spare parts, shooting Federal's outstanding 50gr ballistic-tip .223. (Seriously, some of the most consistent non-match ammo I've had the pleasure of using.)

Five: A good spotting scope and/or binoculars is a must. My little 8x32 binoculars are great for finding deer, not so much for 3-inch targets at 250 yards.

Six: Shoot the rifle you're comfortable with. I know I'm somewhat recoil sensitive. My .308 Savage is a twelve-pound rifle, and comfortable to shoot pretty repeatedly. The AR mentioned above? I can shoot that all day long. The old saw about "a man with one gun" does have some basis in truth.

Seven: I am blessed with some of the best friends in the world. Seriously, you guys... the best.