Quicksilver, who is 4 years-old, has taken quite an interest in my new book on snaring.
She was identifying the animals in the illustrations (which are all top-notch and one of the strong points of this book) when we got to the illustration of the skunk and porcupine.
She pointed at the porcupine and said "Pokey-pine" which was close enough for government work.
Then I asked about the other animal and asked "What about that one?"
She replied "Pokey-pine" with great confidence.
"No that is not correct. Try again" I said.
"Pokey-pine" she repeated.
I decided to give her a clue. "What does you mom say when you are riding in the car with her and then it starts to stink inside?"
"Who tooted?" Quicksilver replied.
That cracked me up. It was not the answer I was fishing for.
In the interest of science, we made a practice snare from the wire used to hang pictures. I then demonstrated how it worked by pretending my fist and wrist were an animal's head-and-neck.
Mrs ERJ informs me that kids crave learning real skills. They can tell the difference between "toys" and "real", "play" and "practical".
Based on Quicksilver's interest in snaring, I second Mrs ERJ's information.
Bonus image
And now his friends are warned, too. Grenades, the original "Inclusive ammo choice".
A lovage plant being transplanted. Shovel for scale.
Zinnias.
Baffling
One of the truisms of dating was that you could learn a lot about the person you were dating by watching how they treated their parents.
Some people are very protective and kind to the people who are closest to them. Other people are abusive or treat them as an asset to be strip-mined.
I "get" that in some circles "being sassy" and "sticking a thumb in da' man's" eye increases in-group status. But what if the target of the "sass" is somebody who you want to maintain a close relationship with? In my opinion, unless the relationship is pathological, it is not possible to have both. It is an either/or situation.
Burning wood
Europe is facing a crisis in the supply of natural gas. The ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia gutted the normal supply channels.
As bad as the United States is for unwieldy regulations, the EU is worse. I have been given to understand that it is pretty much impossible to burn wood for space heating, even of old people are dying from hypothermia. At least in the US, the Executive Branch can unburden power producers from air quality standards via "Emergency Relief" powers. The authority in the EU seems to be much more diluted and less capable of moving quickly.
Kubota update
He just texted me "Huge 8 point out here".
He went out there with one arrow. I hope he gets lucky!
I purchased my deer tag today
In southern, lower Michigan, hunters are restricted to five does per season per county for 2026.
Another change is that "high powered, bottleneck, center-fire cartridges" are legal in all parts of Michigan for deer hunting. I have already heard dire predictions of carnage falling out of the sky from seven miles away.
For that to happen, the deer would have to be climbing trees. Regardless, hunters: Pay attention to what is downrange from your intended target.
Relative biomass
Scaled so human biomass (on earth) is set to 100%.
The classes of terrestrial animal with the greatest biomass are termites and earthworms.
Regarding election results
We survived 12 years of Obama. We can endure two years of grid-lock.
If the Democrats ran on cost-of-living in 2026, it will be interesting to see if the policies they implement will reduce costs. Sadly, the US electorate tends to have very short memories.
In talking to people who shoot at pop-up targets from 25 yards to 400 yards, the one's that "kill" the shooter are the 25 yard ones. Washington D.C. is about 500 miles from Eaton County. Time spent in my gardens and orchards will be more productive than whining about the new set of yahoos coming into office.
The old saw goes something like this: Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and expecting it to kill the other person. The 60 second clip is a variation on that idea.
Sometimes seeking to damage another person or institution inflicts even deeper wounds on the aggressor.
Another old saw is that if you loan somebody $20 and they ghost you, it was money well spent. Who needs people like that in their lives, pretending to be a friend?
I am glad the elections are over
I am waiting for Mrs ERJ wakes up to learn how they turned out. The S&P 500 futures are up 1.0% so maybe the Commies didn't clear the pool-table. That is, I am guessing that they don't have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.
Lifting notes
I got to the gym late yesterday afternoon.
I ran through the usual warm-up: 6x135, 6x185 with heel-lifts (1:20 per side) and stretches in between them.
Then I deviated from my usual maintenance lifts. After a 5 minute recovery, I started at the usual 205lb but then added five pounds, recovered for sixty seconds and then lifted. I marched up to 240, which I was able to lift, before tapping out. If memory serves, that is within five pounds of my PR for deadlifts.
After breaking down and wiping the equipment, I did a one-sided "farmer's carry" with a 53 pound kettle-bell. I alternated sides about every 40 seconds. I dried off my hands and the kettle-bell handle when I switched hands. That makes a big difference.
Kubota
One of Kubota's friends shot a very nice buck two days ago. That lit a fire underneath him.
He was out here putting up a ground-blind and scouting trails.
Bidding on items in an auction
I put in a bid on an on-line auction. I didn't win.
Probably a good thing. They added a detailed description AFTER my bid and the bang-stick had a 2" chamber rather than the more traditional 2-3/4".
Today's work-tickets
I will be pulling "Quicksilver duty" for most of the day.
Apparently, she has been having scary dreams with "spooky monsters" in them.
I am contemplating teaching her how to pull the handle of a Lee Load-All 2 so she can make some ammo (maybe five rounds) for her papa's shotgun. She knows that he uses it to kill various varmints. I think it will be empowering for her to make the "bullets" that can kill "spooky monsters".
The premise of this video is that most shooters will struggle to hit a 1" diameter circle at 100 yards with five consecutive shots. That is, the shooter/rifle/scope/ammo must be able to shoot less than one-minute-of-angle precision, it must also be centered in the middle of the 1" diameter circle printed on the target one hundred yards downrange.
The person running the video owns a shooting range in southwestern Utah and offered $1000 to the first person to accomplish that feat. It took five days before the shooter showed up and collected the prize.
A typical group. Maybe 6" high by 4" wide.
At the 9:35 mark, the person making the video breaks down why the earlier shooters were struggling:
Well, one, you know, several of the guys just didn't have the the bag set up to to get something like that done. Just they weren't going to be steady enough.Nobody could shoot steady enough in the position that they were in (inadequate technique). But then we also saw a lot of very fine rifles in this challenge. We've seen multiple $5000 and $6,000 rifles that still just can't accomplish it. And so it's not just the gear, it's the full setup, it's the ammo, it's the scope, it's the sighting in with just more than just three shoots, it's the scope.
One factor the narrator did not mention was the wind. There is a town near the range named "Hurricane, Utah". Draw your own conclusions.
So, how would I fare if asked to compete with a "cold" rifle?
I would probably turn in a 2", 5 shot group that would be centered about 2" high. Attempting to adjust for the bullet-drop would open up the group a bit.
I would do better if I spent a couple of hours at the range before my turn. I would also change the scope setting from 3X (my default setting) to 9X magnification. I would dial the zero down the two-inches so it was centered exactly "on" at 100 yards. It would also help me tune-up my bench-rest shooting; my weakness is horizontal stringing. I still would not win the competition but I probably would not embarrass myself. I would also be violating the "cold rifle" part of the rules.
By the way, the winner of the contest was a 14 year-old, young man. He was as cool-as-a-cucumber. It wasn't his first rodeo. Also notable was that his father was awesomely supportive.
Yesterday's work-tickets
I walked with Southern Belle.
I mowed her orchard with a push-mower.
I purchased coffee and peanut butter at Wally-world.
I called my friend but he was not available for me to complete our transaction.
I found the phone number of the neighbor how sells hay.
Weather
Our unseasonably warm weather is about to end.
Today's work-tickets
Vote.
Clear a path to the are of the pasture where I want the hay bales stored.
A seven month-old child gets hearing aids. Hears her father's voice. Reaction starts at the 14 second mark. 30 second run-time.
Today's work-tickets
Mow Southern Belle's orchard and go for a walk with her.
Go to the store and buy some non-perishable foods to top off our pantry for the winter. We are six jars of peanut butter and five jars of instant coffee shy of our "Max" storage target.
Visit a friend on Bellevue Hwy. I verbally committed to purchase an item from him, now I need to give him the money and take delivery.
Go for a walk with Mrs ERJ.
Keep working on the fence. Get a tub in the pasture to hold water.
Contact a neighbor and purchase two, big round-bales of hay.
Small bits-and-pieces
I need to get better at finding tasks that I can squeeze into five minute chunks of time. One of the consequences of Southern Belle's new job arrangement is that Quicksilver's drop-off time varies from day-to-day.
I need to put down the lap-top and do something productive, even if it is just putting away laundry.
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