A Memory Was Triggered...

Last week, Parker wrote about his experience with Australians and guns and it triggered a memory.

For those that don’t know, in the late 2000's I lived with several Australians for about three years of my life. I was a drummer in an Australian Christian Rock Band.

There was a time that we were on tour in my home state of Illinois that our crew stayed on a rural property and on this property, we were introduced to some of the finer things in American life; frog legs, Rocky Mountain Oysters, four wheelers and oh yeah, guns!

We had the chance to do something that they couldn’t in Australia, shoot guns!

Though I don’t play any shooting games now, I had a short time where I was into Call of Duty and my bandmates at the time were into Gears of War. Being from Australia, I do not believe that they had held a loaded gun until that day. It was refreshing to see the joy on their faces.

We shot random targets and even a couple of clay pigeons. I don’t remember the details of every single gun that we shot, but I remember one of the funniest moments was my first experience with a 4-inch shell. The kickback from the shot blew my dreadlocks back.

I also had the opportunity to go 4-wheeling for my first time. The people we were staying with had a full racing course set up with dirt ramps. Trying to be courageous, I took the jump on. Not knowing what I was doing, I almost went head-first over the top handlebars whilst almost taking out a fellow bandmember of mine. Thankfully, I stayed on, but that was the last time that I have even tried to get airborn on a motorized vehicle.

On to the Rocky Mountain Oysters… Yeah. I didn’t even put one on the plate. I did try frog legs. I am not a fan. I revisited frog legs this summer during our family cruise but again, I did not enjoy them.

Some people love frog legs. Some people love guns. Some people love both frog legs and guns and some dislike both. Thankfully, here in America, we had the chance to experience both.

Just a friendly reminder to go out and vote. I do not care who or what you vote for, just do it. It is your American right.