To Air or Not to Air

The great outdoors was a great place to grow up. We loved being on the river, and all the property on which we had to roam. One would have thought we would have become avid fishermen and hunters, but in reality we didn't get into much of those activities. I think it was partly because getting the right gear was quite expensive, and we were not ones to be able to afford a lot. I mean, since we were right next to a power dam, the low side of the dam made for great fishing. Many people would fish there in the summer. We would go out and cut down a birch or cherry sapling, and that was our pole. Then, when we saved up enough money, we would buy some line, hooks, sinkers, and a few bobbers. We would go down to the river and fish right alongside those fishermen with the expensive equipment. Usually we would come away with more fish than they did. Of course, all we caught were panfish, bullheads, and succerfish. Those guys were after walleye. Nonetheless, that was how we were usually outfitted.

It was a happy day when we started to get BB guns. We loved shooting everything we could find - and we had lots of room to do it, too. Kevin and Kory got the Daisy air rifles, while Kurt and I got Marksman Repeater (model 1010) air pistols. Our pistols didn't have much power, so we were always envious of the rifles. We just loved playing with guns, anyway - real or not. We even made guns from cutting out boards in the correct shape, and going around playing army, cowboys and indians, or just pretending to hunt on our own. When we got a toy air rifle, it was still pretend, but the thing looked more like a real gun.

One fine summer day I was out with the air rifle playing on the bridge that crossed the power dam. I was enjoying myself (alone - as I usually was, even in a big family) pretending to shoot "enemies" all over the place - especially down in the water. Lo and behold, along comes Kory and decides it's his turn to play with the air rifle. I was maybe 10 or 12, and Kory is about 3 1/2 years older than me.

So, here we are standing on this bridge with just a horizontal rail about 2 1/2 feet off the ground to keep people from falling into the river. Kory grabbed the rifle and wanted to take it from me. We began to wrestle with it pretty hard. Our struggle continued for a bit when suddenly we're leaning over the rail and the rifle just flies out of both our hands. Kersploosh! Into the rushing current it went - never to be seen again. I think I just stood there for awhile in amazement, and sorting out what had just happened. I was disappointed in losing that air rifle. I don't remember if it was a general property item, or if it belonged to Kory. No matter, it was lost, and with it I lost my power of imagination for that day.

I don't know if we ever did get another air rifle, but I have always reflected on how quickly we lost something (precious to me at that time) by selfish desires and not being courteous amongst each other. That experience has always stuck with me over the years, and maybe it's just now that I realized the lesson to be learned from it.

I love all my brothers and sisters, and Kory was one of my heroes. We did a lot of extreme sports together. He was my hero. Even in his 50's he's still doing many extreme sports. Maybe one day we'll get together and reminisce about the air rifle episode, and compare what lesson we have learned from it (if he even remembers it).

In the meantime, to borrow a couple of phrases from Red Green, "Keep your stick on the ice" and "if the women don't find you handsome, at least they'll find you handy."