Deadeye Des

Desiree and I spent Friday and Saturday night at the cabin.  On Saturday afternoon, the Wedll Family drove up to overnight in a tent alongside us.  Last year, on a similar stay, the two oldest Wedll kids (Carolyn and Jack) brought along their Red Ryder air rifles.  I spent hours plinking down aluminum cans with them.  Recognizing how much I enjoyed shooting the air rifle, the Wedll’s gave me an official Red Ryder for Christmas.

Naturally, I brought my Red Ryder air rifle with me for our weekend stay at the cabin.  Not only did Carolyn and Jack bring along their Red Ryder rifles; they also brought with them a suspiciously long and narrow gift-wrapped box.  “This is a gift for Desiree from the kids,” Becky Jo said, handing the box to Desiree.

I laughed.  “I think I have a pretty good idea what that is.”  Desiree carefully peeled away the wrapping after being presented the box.  Sure enough, the kids had given her a Red Ryder of her own.  Another Montana-style welcome.

“I guess I need to set up a few cans so we can try our hand a target shooting,” I suggested after capturing an image of the kids and Desiree on my smarter-than-me-phone.”

Weird thing.  Desiree turned out to be an excellent marksman.  She soon began plinking down can after can.  Plastic bottles, too.  Within an hour, she earned the name “Deadeye Des.”

Jack, Carolyn, and Desiree

Deadeye Des

—Mitchell Hegman