[Doc Hoy]

I related this part of the range day to my wife but it was not until a little later that I realized that this was the best part of the day.....

Perhaps you recall that I shoot in a field belonging to a young fellow (Kendal) in a small town near my home. This guy is cobbling together an existence and trying to overcome poor choices he has made. Not much education. Being in "the system" for a while.

He does okay but there are times when I wonder if he is not still making poor choices. None of my business but that does not mean I don't care about it.

Today, while I was shooting, Kendal came up behind me with a young fellow that he introduced as his fourteen year old brother, Tyler. He said that he wanted his brother to just watch what I was doing and experience the heritage of fire arms as a way to avoid succumbing to the mystique of the street thug with the illegal 9mm. He didn't use those words but I am sure that is where he was going.

I let Tyler take a coupla shots with each of the tools I had with me. (That was before the Peacemaker crapped out.) And when we were done, Kendal asked Tyler how he would describe the experience to his friends tomorrow when he went back to school. I didn't hear Tyler's response because they had walked away but I could still see them talking as they were walking. It was two brothers talking to one another over a chance experience of true Americana.

I don't know if Tyler will be okay. I don't know if Kendal will be okay. But at least they had that opportunity to talk to one another.