Forever young .... forever beautiful ....

                     Veronica Yvette Bennett  /  Ronnie Spector 

                           August 10, 1943 -- January 12, 2022

2022 .... the river of time moves along ....

 

Christmas is ....

The link between handguns & whatever

A Sig Sauer 220R5 Legion-SAO in 10 mm caliber

Incidentally, welcome to the final month of 2021

Pretty ordinary looking handgun for a price tag of fourteen or fifteen or sixteen hundred dollars.

Right?

Is it worth that kind of money?

Time will tell, I suppose.

It is a Sig Sauer 220R5 Legion-SAO semi-automatic pistol in 10 mm caliber. It arrived Saturday to keep company with the Sig Sauer 716i semi-automatic rifle in .308 / 7.62 mm caliber which made its appearance here a few weeks ago. One sig deserves another, someone once told me, and I took it literally.

You might recall that the rifle is the first AR type I have owned. The pistol is in sort of the same category. Like many, I am an aficionado of the John Browning's Model 1911 in .45 caliber, but I have wanted a 10 mm for a few years and decided the time of wanting and waiting must come to an end.

For most practical purposes, this Sig is a 1911 in disguise since it very much looks like and has the feel of and functions in a similar fashion to a 1911.

Returning to the economics of this "masterpiece," there is an oft-repeated question about the worth of a particular thing in terms of coin of the realm .... a particular vehicle; a particular painting; a particular piece of property? My usual answer is to the effect that the worth of something is whatever someone will pay for it.

More specifically, most people, if they were to hold this particular handgun and examine it closely, probably would fall into one of three camps: Those unfamiliar with pistols and think $1500 was a typical price; those unfamiliar with guns who would be flabbergasted at the amount of money; those familiar with firearms who would "fondle" it while thoroughly inspecting it and after a few minutes say it is worth every cent of $1500 -- especially when compared to other guns on the market.

For those among you who object to firearms, you can reasonably assume this will be my last entry about one for a long/long/long while ....

As for the music accompanying this post, there may not be something for everyone, which never is the intent, rather, the idea is to make suggestions from "stuff" I enjoy and which usually has a link, obvious or subtle, to the words and the illustration ....

So, what is the link between handguns and whatever? Me, of course .... carry on, baby ....

Thankful on Thanksgiving

Frederick McCubbin was among the founding members of the Heidelberg School, an art movement related to Australian Impressionism. This particular work titled "The Pioneer" is oil on canvas, was done in 1904 and is displayed at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. McCubbin's life spanned the years 1855 through 1917. That he and other "artists" in myriad fields lived and produced their work for me to enjoy is one of the things for which I am grateful.

Be happy .... be obliged ....

This post began with reading a Thanksgiving article in last Sunday's edition of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press under the headline, "What first-graders are thankful for in 2021." Mostly, the kids "seem to appreciate people who spend time with them."

Me, too ....

The most-used words from the kids were, in descending order: "family, mom, love, friends, God, dad, school, play and food."

With a few modifications, those could be on my list, too. So, I asked myself, what am I thankful for in 2021?

My own "dumb luck" probably envelopes my appreciation of my existence in the sense of thankfulness: For being born into the family I was; in the country, region and town I was; at the time in a historical context I was. On a scale of having had a "charmed life," I would give mine a "B" or a seven.

On my blog, I frequently refer to myself as Fram the Fortunate and use "Old Norse" references such as "gold-luck" and "woman-luck" and "health-luck" and "weather-luck" to describe the road I have walked. I have had two terrific wives and have three cool kids. There is nothing more beautiful than a blue sky with billowy clouds and nothing more wonderful than a nap in a meadow on a sunny, breezy afternoon.

Although I am a devotee of "Bitter (Ambrose) Bierce" and skeptical about many things, I am essentially glad to be alive and to experience so much of life and living. What else is there to do with life other than to appreciate / to study / to learn from it?

Returning to art and artists, my thankfulness comes in the form of being able to enjoy the paintings of individuals like Monet and Vasnetsov and Caravaggio / sculpture by Michelangelo and Rodin / books from Homer and Hemingway and Durant / music by Bach and Mercury .... well, you get my drift .... be happy .... be thankful, baby ....