Nothing in particular

It's been one of those weekends that passed so quickly. It seems as if it was compressed.

The weather has been beautiful. The maple trees are in their full autumn splendor. The oaks are starting to catch up. The full sun soaks into a body, but it isn't too hot. It got up to 71 degrees this afternoon. There's a good breeze blowing out of the south.

The one jarring event of the weekend was finding our oldest mare, Lacey, dead in the pasture. She passed late Saturday morning without warning while grazing along the creek. Lacey, a beautiful gray, dappled Missouri Fox Trotter, lasted 28 1/2 years. She won a batch of shows, gave us some excellent colts until she was 19 or 20, and has been retired since then. She was the Queen out in the pasture. The others always shrank back at the feeders.

I'm still putting together some items I'll need for the 9mm AR-15 project. I've ordered more 20 and 32-round CProducts 9mm magazines from 44Mag.com and a magazine pouch from Tactical Tailor. As I can only strong-thumb 11 rounds into the magazines, I need a Colt SMG LULA mag loader. I'll probably order it from MidwayUSA or Brownells.

There have been times around here when I've had to grab up a weapon and other gear and travel a half-mile away from the house at night. I'll rig up a belt with pouches for magazines and a spare flashlight and a multi-tool to grab up with the 9mm. It will be a potent carbine out to perhaps 100 yards that all family members can use.

We're close to the county line and it usually takes at least 20 minutes for law enforcement to arrive if there's any trouble. It's usually pretty quiet here, but there have been notable exceptions stamped on my memory.