For one reason or another, I seem to find myself in Bever's Ace Hardware on a regular basis. The other day was no exception. I stopped in at Bever's to pick up some little something or other and, on an impulse, I decided to buy a BB gun. Bever's has several models on display and I will admit that for several weeks I kind of had my eye on a particular model. It was a Red Ryder made by Daisy. This BB gun holds a certain fascination for me because it is just like the ones we had when I was a boy. It brought back a lot of memories.
Well, it is no fun to have a new BB gun if you can't share it with someone special, so I called my grandson Titus and told him about my new purchase. He was very excited to hear about my gun and wanted to come see it sometime. I told him to come over when he could and we would shoot the BB gun and maybe do a little work in the shop.
A week or so later, my son David called to see if Titus could come spend the afternoon with me working in the shop and shooting the BB gun. I told him he certainly could, so Titus came for lunch one Saturday and spent the afternoon. I had a few things I wanted to accomplish and figured I would get Titus to help me.
Right after lunch, I told Titus I wanted to plant some potatoes in the garden. I had already prepared the bed for planting, so all we had to do was to lay out the potatoes in straight rows and dig a hole with our hands to drop in the potatoes. The soil is deep and mellow, so digging a hole is easy. I like to plant whole, small potatoes. We had quite a few left over from our fall crop, so it wasn't necessary to buy any. Titus and I each took two rows and pretty soon we had the potatoes planted. This was on March 5th. I guess we'll see how they do. This winter has been so mild that I thought we could plant a little early.
After we finished planting the potatoes, we headed to the shop. I had my new BB gun and Titus had his tool box. I was working on a new picture frame for our house, so Titus was able to help me with that. He also played with some toys I keep in the shop for grandchildren who visit.
Titus built a little sail boat out of wood scraps. We used a pin nailer to attach the sail. Every now and then, I would ask him to hold the end of the tape measure so I could get an accurate measurement on my project. We worked in the shop for a while, but then it was time to shoot the BB gun. This was what Titus had been waiting for. We found an old cardboard box in the shop, walked out a ways and placed it on the ground. We headed back to the shop to sit with our backs to the wall. I then gave Titus a few instructions on how to handle a BB gun. He listened carefully and I could tell he was taking it all in.
I took the BB gun and cocked it, then took the first shot at the target. We both heard the BB hit the cardboard box and looked at each other with a big grin on our faces. I handed the gun to Titus. He carefully cocked it and took aim at the box. He fired but missed the target. I told him to try again. He did and missed again. I tried another shot and hit the target. Shot again and hit it again.
"Boy, Papaw, you're a good shot!"
"Well, I've had more practice than you," I said, "Why don't you try another shot! I think you'll hit it this time."
Titus took aim again and this time we heard the distinctive "thwack" as it hit the box. Titus was literally tickled pink. He couldn't have smiled any bigger if he had tried. We took turns shooting the box for a while, then decided the box was too close. Titus moved it about 15 feet further out and we took a few more shots. Titus's aim improved dramatically from what it was at the beginning.
Finally, we decided to move the box out some more. I estimate that the box was at least eighty or so feet from where we were sitting. For the first few shots I hit the box every time, but Titus missed it every time. I was just about ready to move the box closer when Titus hit the target and from there he kept on hitting the target -- at least most of the time.
I decided to go back inside and let Titus shoot by himself for a while. It wasn't long before Titus came in a little out of breath.
"Hey, Papaw, can I take the BB gun down in that big gully where we squirrel hunt?"
"Naw, you better stay up here by the shop."
A little while later Titus came in again. "Hey Papaw, there's some birds in those bushes over there! Can I shoot at them?"
"Naw, you better just shoot at that box for now," I told him.
Pretty soon Titus was back in the shop. "Hey Papaw, my hand is cramping it's been holding the BB gun for so long!"
"Well, you're welcome to help me in here or you can play with the toys if you want."
"No thanks, I'd rather shoot the BB gun," Titus said, as he hurried back outside.
It wasn't long before Titus was back in the shop. "Hey Papaw, I hit the box 10 times in a row without missing!"
"Wow, that's great! I doubt if I could do that," I told him, "You better get busy shooting because I'll need to take you home before long. You have about thirty more minutes before we have to leave."
Before long, Titus and I drove back to the house where we picked up Miss Linda. We took Titus home. On the way, I told Titus I had enjoyed having him come over.
"I had a good time too, Papaw," he said, "I hope I can come again sometime soon."
"Sure you can. Just tell your folks Papaw said he needed your help in the shop."
We let Titus off at his house, where he ran inside to tell his family about his day.
Sam Byrnes is a Gentry-area resident and weekly contributor to the Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 03/16/2016