Now the Rest of the Story

I suppose there comes a time in everyone's life when they wonder what they have achieved in life. I am approaching 64 years old, and sometimes I wonder. Have I wasted a lifetime making a living? Was it all worth the struggle? What do I have to show for it, and all of those other meaning of life questions.

As you have probably guessed I have a lot of knives to show for it. In fact how does one explain to the wife how three Fairbairn~Sykes knives show up in the mail in two days? OOPS! Bad timing I guess. But there has to be more in the end than just things. Having Things is good but what else have I accomplished? Winning a free trip to Vietnam in the SeaBees in 1968. There are things and times that stand out that are more pleasant. Meeting my wife while I was stationed at Camp David, MD. Staying married for 42 years now. Driving in my first Sports Car Club of America race, even more so the first one I won. Working as crew for McLaren Racing and as crew chief for Budweiser Racing. The birth of our daughter who became my greatest treasure and closest friend. Really earning my Black Belt in GoJu Ryu karate after training for five years as a white belt. My daughter and I training in Japan with Yagyu Nobuharu and Yagyu Koichi Sensei, those are some wonderful memories. My wife was along for the fun side of it.

Back in the early years of my marriage I built custom muzzle-loading rifles as a hobby, about 30 of them. By the time I quit I was actually getting pretty good. Working weekends as a 19th cent gunmaker at the Genesse Country Museum I learned about how many stupid questions the public can ask. Who says there is no such thing as a stupid question? Studying the Old Celtic faith with a childhood mentor for nearly 35 years and finally being ordained as a priest (yes Celtic priests are allowed to marry). Good God what a night that was! Performing a few weddings and all too many funerals. Writing my first knife defense book, "The Rhythm of One" and seeing it come together with the help of my daughter/editor who was by this time a Nidan in Karate and a far better swordsman than I. 2010, spending a week in North Carolina with my daughter at the Blackwater Training facility practicing, Tactical Carbine drills, a really great time but don't expect to find any good restaurants in the area.

The last great time I had was in 2011 at the Storm Mountain Training Facility near Elk View, WV. I was there with my buddy, yep my daughter, taking a long range Precision Rifle class. That was when, after 50 years of shooting a rifle, I finally learned how to correct for wind and elevation at long ranges. Using "kentucky windage" doesn't work too good when the target is only 2 feet square and 800 yards away. You'll be hearing more about Storm Mountain in the coming days. Last and far from least my daughter's marriage to a man worthy of her hand, another kindred warrior I am proud to have as a son.

For all of you who have been dedicated readers, enjoyed my knife posts, endured my political rants, and stayed through it all, now as Paul Harvey would say, "you know the rest of the story." So far its been a pretty good one.