Here’s hoping your comportment this past year got you onto the ‘nice’ list and you found something fun (read: gun-related) under the tree. Whether there was a case of 9mm FMJ under your tannenbaum this morning or just a large lump of lignite, we want to wish you a very merry Christmas. From all of us at Shooting News Weekly to all of you, thanks for reading and enjoy your holiday.
House is loaded up with relatives and their assorted offspring, 23 people in all counting us. The adults and teens have been up all night helping us deliver our annual contribution for our local gun community offerings of food for the less able and disadvantaged that will provide Christmas meals to around 2,800 this year. This year from us it was Hams, Turkeys, and deserts, not on the cooking/serving teams this year as we did Thanksgiving for that this year.
The younger kids have been up since about 6AM, and we all gathered for the gifts under the tree. Some new guns and assorted firearms items for some of the adults and older kids, assorted clothing and boots and shoes for everyone, toys for the younger kids, some new phones for the older kids, some assorted jewelry, and other various items. Christmas breakfast just ended, I’m stuffed already. For Christmas dinner later, pointing out the year that us guys got creative in ‘helping’ out in the kitchen for Christmas dinner and almost ruined a few dishes a team of fearsome women are threatening us guys with ‘NO! Keep your butts out of the kitchen! We will take care of it! If we need something we will let you know and you will do it! Got it!?” – “Yes Ma’am!” from us. And the little ones are running around the house with their new stuff. The dogs are enjoying all the attention they are getting from the kids and just a little while ago they decided they were attracted suddenly to a noise making moving stuffed animal ‘chip monk’ one of the kids put on the tree and the dogs tried to get it, tree was saved from doom at the last second.
So in a short while we will all start getting ready for church Christmas mass, rounding up the little ones and getting them dressed for church will be like herding cats as they will want to keep playing. After, a trip to the firing range so new guns can be tried out, some are in the other room now mounting new optics/sights so will zero those too as needed at the range. And then to continue a day of simply enjoying Christmas and being together. Sadly, this might be the last year we get to have Christmas with one of our relatives – don’t know yet if treatment for the aggressive cancer worked or not, but they are here now and surrounded by those that love them.
One of the best Christmas’s ever, I would not trade the world for it.
I was nice and naughty and still got Christmas presents, lucky me.
Merry Christmas to all of you at Shooting News Weekly.
Merry Christmas!!!
“Die Hard”
And a joyous Hanukkah to you and yours (if appropriate), Dan…