Day 3,721—the Sun Returns: Early Experience with Animals II —

 

My wife had fallen asleep. I woke her up and suggested that she go to bed. I was wide awake and suddenly getting into music. I need to be in the right mood to try new stuff, and last night I enjoyed everything I selected. I was thinking about working out at home for a little while doing cardio in my basement, but then I thought why not go for a run? I went into Webster. It was a calm, cool night with raccoons out scurrying about. One in particular turned to look at me as to say, “What are you doing here?” 

         I saw a deer sleeping by the highway and I got closer to take a picture and scared her off. I felt bad, and I thought about the time I went hunting when I was 12. 

         When I was eight, my dad bought me a knife and I carried it everywhere I went, it was a blue Cub Scout knife. Before that, I had been allowed to use a knife, but I did not get to have one of my own. At eleven, my dad bought me a 22 rifle. I had a BB gun and a pellet gun before that, and my brother and I would shoot cans and targets in our backyard. At scout camps and target ranges, I learned to shoot a gun and took the rifle hunting and safety course that was on a Saturday in a classroom at St. Louis Community College. 

       He emphasized how common gun-related accidents happen and how simple it is for someone to come into your house find your gun and steal it. He told everyone in the room, “I know exactly where you keep your rifle. It is in your closet on the right-hand side. You think you’re so clever, but any criminal could break into your house and take your gun and use it against you.” I knew this was exactly where my dad had kept his rifle, so I figured this guy knew what he was talking about. 

         The only negative things I thought about were how easy the test was and how people still failed it. I was 12, and he said that people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, all couldn’t pass the test. Also, why didn’t we have to demonstrate any gun safety? I had been trained through scouts and other regulated situations how to shoot and clean a gun, but not everyone has those same opportunities. 

         I missed two questions on the test. It was multiple choice. I was twelve. I am no Young Sheldon. It was easy, a joke, and the license was for a lifetime, so I never would have to take it again. This is all that was required in Missouri to procure a hunter’s permit and buy a license to kill a deer. My dad bought one for my brothers and me, and we made the plan to go hunting in the fall with my Uncle JC. 

I was excited to finally go out and see what I could do. I was a good shot. Everyone said so.