My shotgun and I have been together a long time. I received it for my twelfth birthday about 70 years ago. I was raised in a farming community. It was expected that a young man would contribute to the food supply whenever possible. My family considered a shotgun to be a piece of precision farm equipment that you used to get food. When I lived with my grandfather on his small farm in rural Midwest he positioned a firearm at each downstairs window. When we looked out in the morning if there was a critter poaching from our garden we could open the window slightly and collect a main course for lunch. If we got a rabbit it meant I did not have to catch one of the free-roaming roosters for lunch.
In those days in rural America people did not have indoor plumbing. Water came from the well. You went out and pumped for it. You wonder about personal sanitation and how often we took showers. The first shower I experienced was when I was in high school and had to take a gym class. Warm water coming out of the wall, what a concept. The privy was between the house and the barn. Grandpa got up early about 3 and went down to the barn. Not everyone had electricity in those days. It was a status symbol to see a light burning above the farm door. Not much time for a big breakfast. In the evening there was the milking so not much time then either. The big meal was the midday. There would be the main course usually chicken from free-roaming to table in less than two hours. There were always potatoes and apple kuchen for dessert. We ate well. That was when we had a leisurely meal and talked about important things.
The elementary school had three rooms: one for first and second grade, one for 3, 4, and 5 the last room was for grade 6 and above. By 5th grade you had learned to read, write, and arithmetic which is what schools taught in those days. Often the youths were needed on the farm so quit after the fifth grade. At age 12 I got my hunting license without an adult accompanying me. You could drive a tractor on the county road at least up to the next field. Young women could marry at that age. It was pioneer country. It was a different world.
I was proud of my shotgun. I took very good care of it. When a relative passed I acquired a rifle and shotgun as a hand-me-down. The local gunsmith said the rifle was not in good enough shape to shoot and advised I take it to the local lake about a mile away and throw it in. The shotgun was in good shape as shotguns do not wear out like rifles do. I already had mine so I gave it to a cousin who did not have one. There…