My first BB gun.
I was about 10 years old and there were less than 15,000 people in the County. The daily mail delivery was a big event. When you’re waiting for the mailman to deliver your first BB gun, the pain is excruciating. Although we had a mailbox of size, I knew the gun was too big and would have to be delivered to the front door. For what seemed an eternity, I would wait by the window every day hoping (praying??) the mailman would stop and get out of his car. My heart would sink as he drove away but finally one blessed day the gun arrived. My brand new Daisy Red Ryder BB gun. It even had woodlike graining in the plastic stock. I know today how Ralphie felt in the movie “A Christmas Story” when Santa brought his Red Ryder (”it’ll put your eye out”) BB gun.
OK, so I had my BB gun. Now what? Well we know that guns are made to shoot things so tin cans and pie plates became easy targets. It didn’t take long, however, before live game became more appealing and wildlife around the small farm ponds began to come under seige. My primary target was the frog. They were in plentiful supply and I sadly admit that a small number of them perished from some well aimed shots.
Several years later, my parents bought me a .22 caliber rifle and my hunting career expanded as I sought out the mighty dump rat in our local landfill. More on that story in my next chapter of Growing Up in Calvert in the 1950’s…
Brooke
