August 21, 2009
Three things. I think my son gets out of the Peace Corp tomorrow. Or, at least it's his last official day in his village. He allegedly wised off to a U.S. Congresswoman who came to visit (where did that come from?) and I'll give that story tomorrow when he's officially out.

Lee Anderson, our cover boy, and the guy who built the water trough we used yesterday for the True West Moment shoot has this post mortice report:

"The Winchester I was shooting yesterday is an original 1873 saddle ring carbine, serial #33843 that, according to Winchester records, was manufactured in 1879. It's been re-stocked at some time. Also, I was shooting black powder cartridges.

"I dug out the two rifle slugs and measured the depth of the holes. The first shot had turned sideways and missed going all the way through by 3/8 of an inch. The other one went straight in and made it to within 1/4 inch of going all the way through. Neither bullet was deformed in the least."
—Lee Anderson

And yes, post mortice is a play on words. A mortice, loosely translated, is a cut in wood.

And finally, if Degas is right and we can only do good art when we don't know what we're doing (I'm paraphrasing his quote from the other day), I am onto something big. I'll post the results as soon as I finish.
'
"Don't count your chickens before the cock crows."
—Old Rooster Saying