Winter Driving Preparedness- The Paul Simon Blog

I gotta think that there was a whole lot of slip sliding away going on lately on the roads… .

I remember getting the calls; someone was on their cell phone, in the snow drift, in hopeless conditions in which we would be hard pressed to get to them.  Were they prepared?  Not just no, but hell no! Under-dressed for the cold, no boots, thin gloves, no warm hat, probably poor tread on their tires, no water to drink, no flares, no tow rope, no shovel, no self-protection in case someone with ill intent came along, no emergency light, no food, no real pressing need to have been out in the weather and the question on their lips… “how soon can you get to me? I’m in a hurry!”

And like the Coast Guard when they rescue a boat that went out in crappy seas, we’d always find a way to get to them.

So, what should you do if they needed to risk a trip in the weather?  Prepare!

Any car should have a basic kit in it. The contents of the kit will vary based on the season, but the kit should be there. How extensive should the kit be?  That’s like asking an old timer if he wears boxers or briefs, he’ll answer, “Depends.”  It depends on your level of comfort.  It depends on your type of vehicle.  It depends on the route you’ll be plying.

Any time of the year, you should have some basics like water and some munchies. (No damn it.  Not those kind of munchies, this ain’t Colorado, dude. I mean real food! ) Throw in basic emergency supplies for your car (flares, air pump, fix-a-flat, jack, flashlight) and some means of protection (you always have that on you, don’t you?) and you have a good start.

Summer is easy. Not much above the basics are mandatory, although I’d throw in some bug repellent and extra hydration.

For winter, warm clothing is paramount (boots, hat, gloves, blankets).  A shovel is good.  Toss in some bags of something for weight, too. I use water softener salt; adds weight for traction and I’ll end up using it eventually for its stated use.  It also can be pressed into use for traction under your tires. (Reminds me of some folks I came across one winter. Stuck in the snow and putting floor mats under their rear tires for traction. Might have worked if it hadn’t been a front wheel drive vehicle. (And worse, these type of people breed).

And best advice; if you do not need to be out, stay in. When old man winter is over-achieving, there’s nothing like a warm fire in the fireplace, warm mug of cocoa in your hand, and a warm spouse and warm puppy belly to rub.  Staying in sure beats the alternative which can be frustrating at best, or deadly at the worst. Ask any cop, firefighter, EMT or wrecker driver. They’ll tell you how many times they’ve attended scenes where lives were tragically changed, or ended, in an instant on hazardous roads.

And don’t forget to say a quick prayer for those in the emergency services and medical care field who can’t take snow days, who absolutely have to "get there" and go to work.

Cheers

Snow Geese

It is no secret that I like to hunt deer. Certainly, shooting them is an integral and important part of the whole thing. Beyond that though, what is important is the time alone with my thoughts to reflect, ponder, meditate and, as much as anything, to simply sit there and regard what is going on in the woods.

I love hearing the raucous, frenetic cries of the Canada geese as they wing overhead. They are like a band of unruly frat boys noisily returning to the frat house after a night of libations.

I also love to hear the snow geese on the rare occasions when they make an appearance. In contrast to the Canada geese, the snow geese have an eerie, forlorn cry that is one of the most lonesome sounds I know. The Canada’s song is more upbeat and vivacious and it energizes the soul to hear it.  The snow’s song is a beat or two slower.  It chills the soul with its sadness.  It is a plaintive reminder that the warmth of summer and the abundance of fall have ended and will be replaced with the long, cold, stark days of winter.

It seems their voices travel for miles.  I hear them long before they come into sight.  Finally, the flock materializes into sight always at dizzying heights. Despite the lonesome sound, the flocks are huge; many seeming to number hundreds of birds. Hearing and seeing them, it is as if each bird is alone amongst the huge flock.

Today as I sat in the woods I heard them. I never saw them, but their cries lingered for several minutes as they passed me heading south. After they could no longer be heard the woods hushed and there was nothing left but to think.

I reflected on how tomorrow is Christmas and how most of us will be joining our families for a big dinner and shared gifts. I then thought of our soldiers far away who would not be with their families.

It occurred to me that the soldiers were like the snow geese. They are deployed together with thousands of other young women and men with whom they have been assigned. Still, each of them is individually lonesome for the family they have left behind.

As we all gather with our families and friends, please take a moment and remember those who are stationed far away from their families.

On behalf of Mrs. Blog Sarge, Blog Puppy and me, I offer my prayers for a blessed Christmas.  As we celebrate God’s ultimate gift to us, please join me in praying that this time next year we will have His peace to celebrate as well.

Blessings to all.

Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving from the entire Blog Sarge family. And happy start of Hanukkah for our brothers and sisters of the Jewish faith.

While we are all running about doing family activities, we need to stop and contemplate on all we have to be thankful for.

For my part, I am thankful for the limitless blessings I have received and for which I feel completely unworthy. These include family, good friends, good health, a truly wonderful group of folks here at Ann Arbor Arms with whom I work and a bunch of wonderful customers who are as much friends as customers.

I am also thankful for the wonderful country we are blessed to live in. I pray we never take for granted the country or our freedoms. Freedoms that were secured for us through the blood and trials of the "sheepdogs" who stood guard before and now those currently stand guard.

Please join me in praying for those who serve and are far from home and in giving thanks for all the blessings we have here.

I wish all of you safe travels and a happy Thanksgiving.

Blog Sarge

Why We Hunt- The Blackout and Whitetail Deer Blog

“Good God, man. If you need meat, I’ll go and buy you some!"

It was a fellow cop talking to me years ago in early November. I told him I was taking time off to hunt and he didn’t see why. True, the grocery budget was a bit slim.  Still that wasn’t really what hunting was all about, although it did certainly help.

So I told him why I hunted. Yes, I told him about the relaxing time spent outdoors, the long reflective time in the deer stand with no outside distractions, the beautiful sights and sounds, the thrill of the hunt and the successful, although always somewhat sad, time of the kill.

I also told him other reasons that are even more valid now than they were then.

Do you know what is in the beef you just had for dinner? Do you? How many antibiotics, steroids and other drugs were pumped into that animal? What did it eat? Did it eat natural foods, or genetically manufactured food-like products? These questions might make you take pause and think about what you put into your mouth and wonder about the actual nutritional content and healthfulness of it.

And how did it live? Did it live free-range as God intended it to, or was it in an inhumane meat-mill living in its own filth? How did it die? Did it die a quick death from a well-placed bullet or did it get herded into a slaughter-house? Was God’s name spoken over it and thanks given for it after the kill? Was it cared for after the kill in a sanitary, respectful way or was it left dead in a pile of waste from other dead animals until lifted out to be processed by a machine? If you believe in anything like chi energy, you will appreciate that there has got to be better, healthier energy in the meat from a free-range living, quick, humanely killed deer.

Finally, I told him that it was about self-reliance. It was about being able to go out and do what man has always done.

So for all these reasons, I hunt. My cop friend will never be a hunter, but I think he understands why others do.

Gotta go, the fresh deer liver and heart are about done cooking. And yes, I killed it with my 300BLK!

Preparing- Gettin' Down on the Mountain

“How do you make others see it?” my friend asked. “It,” was the need to prepare.

Really, I don’t know the answer.  But my friend posing it had a good point. He was preparing for whatever occurred, but his friends and loved ones were not. So what should he do? Should he try to convince them? What is he morally obligated to do? Should he prep for non-preppers too, when he can hardly afford what he is already doing? If something happens how does he decide who to help and how much help to give?

And what about spiritual preparedness?  Many people have stashed away food, water, ammo, fuel, medical supplies, etc, but have we prepared ourselves for the ultimate end? Do we prepare and pray for God to save us from natural or man-made disasters, but not take steps to try to assure forgiveness when He causes the event and decides that he is ready for the final judgment?

Preparedness is a complicated idea and requires forethought. It is about more than food and water. It involves a balance of sustaining fuel needs, medical needs, water needs, communications needs and much more.

The recent events in the Philippines with the typhoon underscore that there is a need to prepare for natural catastrophes. Your own personal views on where we are as a civilization will dictate your feelings about how much concern you need to have about man made catastrophes. 

Either way, the likelihood of some sort of event forcing self-reliance for even a relatively short time is not unreasonable and should give cause for us to evaluate our level of being prepared against where we feel we should be.

And the time to do so is now before it happens. Drinking water, canisters of Wise emergency food, backup medical supplies, fuel for generators, ammunition for protection and hunting all are items that will be sold out in rapid order once something occurs.

No, you do not need to go over the top. But yes, you need to have some sort of preparations made.

In the end, it is our responsibility to take care of ourselves and our families rather than relying on a government or others to take care of us. To prepare is responsible and patriotic and I believe should be mandatory. In the event of a large-scale national emergency, those who have not prepared will place a drain on resources that might overburden the government. And it will be unreasonable for them to expect to be bailed out.

I'm curious what plans others have and how much "charity" will be shown to those who do not prepare.

I’ll leave you with a little Corb Lund singing about this exact topic…

Gettin' Down on the Mountain

Those Who Have Served

A while back, my wife and I loaded up and drove up to Door County, Wisconsin, through the Upper Peninsula and back down the west side of Michigan.

This summer, we spent a lot of time on our boat and traveled around northern Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

A couple years ago we flew one of the club's Cessnas up to Mackinac Island and Traverse City just for the fun of it.

Last Tuesday, thousands of people went to polling places and participated in a democratic process called free elections.

And you ask, "So, what the hell is the point Blog Sarge?"

The point is that we can do these things. Many people in this world cannot. The difference is that we are a free country.

Why are we a free country? It is because brave women and men from early in our history through into today have been willing to stand up for our freedom and our way of life and put their own lives at risk for the greater good. They had the guts to stand up to oppression, boldly say that we are endowed with rights and that these rights can not be taken away.

Monday is Veterans Day. It is a time for us all to think about the freedoms we enjoy and to give thanks for those who have answered the call to serve us.

Please give thought to offering to help those who served and gave of themselves for us.

Check out Camp Liberty and consider what these people have given us, think of what your freedom means to you, and then think of what you can give back to them.

Finally, don't forget to offer your prayers for these men and women and to give thanks for the blessings of freedom we enjoy.

Consistency- The Ted Nugent, Keith Richards Blog

There is one of the best, most piercing guitar note in all of rock and roll in a Rolling Stones song. In Wild Horses, Keith nails a note that is worth listening to the whole album, er, I mean CD, for.

And he can nail it just the same every time he plays it. This leads to the point, his consistency makes for an accurate guitar lick.

The same goes for Ted Nugent. Listen to his guitar licks and you will hear consistent precision, each chord being delivered with acute accuracy each and every time he plays.

As I’ve been called out recently for listening to Sarah McLachlan, here’s something from the unabashedly American, freedom loving, Second Amendment supporting Ted Nugent to help me regain my good Second Amendment Karma… The Nuge

From time to time, I speak with someone who wants more accuracy out of their rifle. Obviously, a good optic is called for and I addressed that in a prior blog. Next, assuming that the rifle is a decent one and the ammo is good, the attention turns to the shooter, which is often the first place at which we should start anyway.

Recently I wrote about breath control, one of the keys to precision shooting. Consistency is another key.

So, to the consistency issue. To achieve accuracy, you must do everything the same, every time. Rest the rifle the same. Load the ammo the same. Use the same ammo every time. Breathe the same. Press the trigger the same. Get the idea yet? And yes, I said press the trigger. Think press, not pull. Press, to many people, implies a more controlled, gentle action. (I’d never thought of it, but a recent student mentioned it and it makes sense. Whether I am giving or receiving training, I bring an ‘empty cup’ and am open to learning new tricks.)

Consistency is more important than number of rounds. In fact, you can accomplish a ton without firing rounds. Dry firing, done with care and with a plan, can do wonders. If you can, try to balance a spent cartridge on the end of your barrel, dry fire with it there and work on doing so without letting the cartridge fall off. Obviously, a round barrel won’t let you do this, but a flat topped barrel like many pistols will.

When the time comes for live fire, remember that a range session of ten deliberate, carefully planned shots can be more beneficial than a hundred rounds pounded down range without care.

Cheers!