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Saturday, April 12, 2014

Things

My friend Brigid continues to post heartfelt moving posts. She talks of things and the people around them. The stories and the craftsmanship of those that made the objects and those that use them. The fact it is not the new shiny thing but something tested with time resonates in her post. That moved me. 

Sure, there are many things here. A new tablet, something to do my job with. A new car? Sure. I doubt though that any of these things will have someone 50 years from now really interested in them.

Tomorrow is Concealed Carry Handgun class. I always take this.



This is the only Pistol I have that the entire classroom can hear when it comes off of reset. Yes, you can hear it! I love this big honking 3rd generation S&W 4006 autoloader. Not so much for what it is but for where it came from. An old and dear friend In the mountains of Southwestern Virgina. A accomplished shooter, reloader, and rifle guy. He is pushing 80 now. Everything he is selling as he knows his body is failing him now. 

So glad to have this thing, a direct connection to him. I have the stories and over a quarter of century and the pleasure of his company. 

It is a thing though. At the very basic level something to be bought and sold. To me it means much more because I know where it came from and I need to travel to Southwest VA soon to see him again. Soon. Time is unyielding and harsh. 

This?




  





























Again a thing. A radio I played with at my Grandparents house. It did not work then, replaced by the new Television media. It was kept though and I understand that. In the day this 1947 model Firestone radio was the modern equivalent of a home entertainment center. A huge investment in the day for a cotton mill worker. Again, a pedestrian radio yet not so much to me. I have a connection to it spanning my lifetime.

Pick your things well. What must you have to move effectively through this life now, what things motivate you? What has permanence? Know the difference. 

8 comments:

  1. I carried a S&W 4516 many years ago as a police officer... built like a tank... and almost as heavy...

    Sometimes newer is not better... I think a lot of things in days gone by were built to last in that they could be and were designed to be repaired... it seems like most things today... are built to be disposed of when they no longer work as designed...

    Dann in Ohio

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    Replies
    1. I agree with you. Everything now is disposable. Thank you for your service as a LEO.

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  2. Love that old radio! Given any thought to getting it operational again?

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    Replies
    1. Shepard, I recapped it, restrung the dial cord and aside from finding the button and bezel replacement it works fine!

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  3. Personal connections and nothing wrong with 'old' things... Most of em STILL work! Unlike a lot of the new crap after a year or two...

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