Hunters To Your Mark

Living in the country enabled us and all the relatives with an interest in hunting to participate and bag their quota! Yah...right! Well, it allowed everyone the opportunity to shoot at the birds as they passed and take home some very bruised arms due to the 'kick' in the butt of the shotgun!
Dove season on the farm was a big deal. Every Labor Day ushered the beginning at 1 p.m. and every Labor Day we had the guns cleaned, boxes of shells and we were in control!!
Ye Old Gray Fox used to appear every year on that special weekend with his eyes set on the goal. Kill a bird. His name was Uncle Walter. He had lived in Houston all of his life, for many years, sold carpet to people all over Houston and had been retired for many, many years. He was very close to his sisters, including "Cille", my mom. Walter was very suave and debonair...he had style and a personality to charm a rattler.
When he came, we began gathering 'padding'. Why? For his right shoulder, of course. He never invested in a shotgun, he only used it once a year. So, when he came, he used my dad's pump 12 gauge. That gun kicked like an old mule with nothing else to do. If you didn't 'snug her up real tight into your shoulder' she'd knock your shoulder under you armpit!! True.
So, here we went on Labor Day morning. Walter was our City Slicker come to the country. Mother worked on him and padded and taped and padded and taped until he appeared to have a gigantic growth on his right shoulder. We'd all laugh about it, take photos and off we'd go to the north pasture.
Daddy let the giant Sunflowers grow into September for the season. Doves loved it, it provided 'hide out' status for the hunter and embellished the entire event. You just had to be careful not to shoot the other hunters!! We would disappear and hunt all day. Did we get our limit? NOT. But, we were serious hunters with a purpose...my purpose was to kill at least one or two birds! LOLOLOL
By the end of the day when we were done, so was his shoulder. When he took the padding away we all would respond with a big 'oooohhhhhh'....it was blue, black, yellow, green and sometimes a touch of purple. He pounded that shoulder to a pulp, but he truly enjoyed the experience. We'd put a big 'ol ice pack on it and move to the yard to grill steaks!
Remember? Dairy farm, home raised beef? 300 pounds of beef in the freezer always. While the rest of America dined on bologna, we made tough choices...Ribeye or Strip? Mannn, those were the days!
Walter truly showed dedication and tenacity! He was determined to come, hunt, bruise and go home with a trophy! That was his marbleized shoulder. It didn't matter if he got one dove or the limit. It mattered that he had family who loved him, days of sharing stories and good food and one more opportunity to spend time with one of his sisters! That was life.
I wish to have his level of determination and focus to reach my new mark in life. He's just one individual in life who played an important part in shaping my life. Each time I was privileged to share stories with him, he was serving as a major role model for moi and I was oblivious to that. You see there was so much more to living in the country than just the country.
We were a stronghold of good family, fun things to do and a haven for those who came to just get away from the fast pace of life. Thus, the reason I spend time thinking of all the experiences I had as kid, growing up with the wind blowing through my hair.
Regardless of age today...we are all role models for someone. Be the best you can possibly be and, if they need some cushion wrapped around 'em for some reason, step up and offer to help. It's an investment in mental and emotional happiness!