Shooting in Arizona...

So the fam and I went to Arizona last weekend to visit some extended family. In recent months I've had lots of family move to outskirts of Phoenix (and I do mean the outskirts) and stake a claim in the vast wilderness that is Arizona. I was corrected once by an Arizonian sympathizer when I used the term "country" to describe the outer limits where my family lives, but let me tell you, if it smells like the "country," then it is the "country." I lived in South Dakota for four years, and let me tell you, I know what cow feces smells like. You can change the scenery all you want, but you know how the saying goes, "wherever you go, there you are?" Well I say, no matter what the scenery, "wherever the cow goes, there the country is."

Anyway, I wanted to share with you all one fine moment in my weekend. Aside from having a great time with my cousins who I don't get to see very often, I got to spend some time with one branch of the family on Saturday morning doing a "must have" as an Arizona country dweller: shooting big guns. I thought some of you would get a kick out of seeing me, Mr. City Boy Guitar Player, out there shooting some shotguns in the Arizona wilderness.

6.30am came pretty quickly after a late night poker game with my dad and my cousins, Matt and Sam, but soon enough dad and I rolled up to my Uncle Bob's house, where he appropriately was ready to go in his cutoff flannel shirt. We had four shotguns, one of which was my Uncle Denny's 20 guage that was over 45 years old. I swear it looked like a toy hammer action gun, I can't believe it actually shot real ammunition.

My cousin Robby (one of the few Dodger cohorts in my life, we're already discussing plans to go to some spring training games now that the Dodgers are in Glendale outside Phoenix) just bought himself what I guess you would call a semi-automatic 12 gauge shotgun. Yeah, I didn't know they existed either. You can shoot up to five shells without cocking the gun. Kinda scary. But man, really fun.

So we just perched ourselves against a little bluff out in the middle of nowhere. My Uncle's church just had a 30 man shooting day out there the weekend before. We basically just hung out, took turns shooting, and enjoyed the morning desert weather.

We really did have a great time, and I think the times I spent playing Halo and Call of Duty paid off, because I have a pretty good shot when it even comes to the real thing. It may have even caught Robby a little off guard (who has a camouflage Dodgers hat just for this occasion, God bless him). I think the comedy in it too was that, being that it was a last minute deal, the only thing that I packed for a short 3 day trip that would be suitable for shooting guns was my bright blue Brooklyn Dodgers hat and shirt. So here I am, not only am I just a California city boy, but I'm even rocking the big city New York representation. Though it's the wrong team, I felt a bit like 'Mitch,' Billy Crystal's character in "City Slickers" that wore his New York Mets hat all throughout the film on the open range. As you check out the picture on the right there, be sure not to miss the pistol stuffed into the belt of my ammo pouch. I liken the look to a "Han Solo meets Fonzi meets George Peppard" sort of a vibe.

Good times.