Daddy Day at Gander Mountain

April is moving along, and among other things, we're really tired of the cold, wet weather. I'm not one of those Ohio residents that complains about the cold weather... I actually like it. I love snow, I like driving in the snow, I like playing in the snow, I like wearing sweaters and flannel shirts and heavy coats. But I've reached my limit with the cold weather. My now-absence of patience is a combination of having a taste of warm weather just a few weeks ago, my sickness of a few weeks ago, and the need for us to get outside as a family (Lincoln is getting bored with the inside routine). So I'm calling on Al Gore and the rest of the Global Warming believers: Where is the warming? When can I expect this abnormally warm weather? It's supposed to be "warm" today and if it remains that way, our plan is to take a trip to the Akron Zoo.

Lincoln's first word was "dog." No surprise there!

The Gateses had a great breakfast this morning. I went to a local bakery and picked up some cinnamon rolls and scones and the three of us enjoyed a pleasant sit-down morning. Lincoln had a morning meal of the cinnamon roll, blueberry & lemon scone, cinnamon Life cereal, pear juice, Puffs and raison bread toast. Guess what? He likes cinnamon rolls! Shocker, I know.

Yesterday was not a good resting afternoon for Lincoln, so the two of us took a drive up to Gander Mountain to

Lincoln likes to spend his time learning how to do the important things.

look at handguns. My experience looking at handguns has been very mixed, and most of it has to do with the salesman helping me at the time. I've worked with some real jerks, guys who want to, let's just say, show how cool they are. But yesterday I worked with a guy named Dennis who was very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. So that was a good place to start. I've been giving gun purchasing a lot of thought, and after talking with Dad about his experiences with some instructors and what they've had to say, my choice of firearm has really changed. At first I was interested in a .357 Magnum or a .45, but when considering those guns for a CCW license, those are some big guns that are hard to conceal, and would be pretty uncomfortable to carry. And if the gun isn't comfortable to carry, am I really going to want to carry it? Probably not. So when I combine those thoughts with my experience shooting Dad's old .38 Special, I started considering a .38 Special. If you would have asked me to consider one of those a few months ago I would have said, "No way."

So yesterday on our trip to Gander Mountain, Lincoln and I looked at .38 Specials, and Smith & Wesson has some really nice new models. One of them is hammerless and one of them is standard. The hammerless is much more costly, and I'm pretty settled on the .38 S&W Special +P. It's small, very light-weight, and packs a punch. Lincoln was an all-star at the store. He always is at any kind of store. He loves to look at all of the new stuff, especially the shiny stuff, and Dennis was very friendly with him, as well.

I had the CCW stuff on my mind yesterday because I was talking to a client who had recently been assaulted by a thug in a family restaurant at 11:30 on a Saturday morning. This client of mine did nothing wrong. He was stopping to get some breakfast before visiting his grand-daughter in Columbus. He's licensed, and while the assault happened so fast he couldn't have protected himself with his weapon, he's glad he's licensed now because the friends of the defendant (who will be arraigned this coming week on felony charges) who were at the restaurant now know where he lives because his address was published on the police report. Nobody ever plans on having to defend themselves, but it would be nice for one to know that he had the legal right to do so should a situation ever arise.

Somewhat related to the Second Amendment, I've been reading the Federalist Papers recently, and holy cow, those guys were wise and prophetic. Many things are striking, but one of the things that I notice is that we have so few leaders in Government today with the wisdom of our Founding Fathers. Certainly there are wise men today, but Washington is full of politicians that want the benefits and the power that comes with elected office. We have few, if any, politicians that seek to solely advance American Exceptionalism during their time in D.C. How great would it be to identify the great American thinkers, and have the media not destroy them before they could get to Washington to defend liberty.

But enough about American History for now. Time for an Easter thought. Jenn and I want to extend our Easter greetings to you this day. May you take a moment today, and every day, to consider the love that the LORD showed by taking the punishment for your (our) sins so that we can enjoy close fellowship with Him without penalty. Wow!