Tomorrow morning, for the first time in 57 years (I was 8 when I shot my first), I'm hoping to kill "at least one squirrel". Had to have a cataract removed from the eye that had the retinal detachment. Pretty standard procedure after that surgery. As I can now see "some" out of the right eye - I'm going to attempt to shoot right-handed. I have some scar tissue where the retina was reattached and it distorts my vision. Crosshairs are blurred, but the center still appears to be the "center". I just busted a half-dozen little crab-apples at 15 to 40 yards. Part of the time I was "guessing" where the crosshairs were. Now, in the early light, shadows and leaves - who knows? I think I'll need a really cooperative squirrel.. maybe even one with a death wish.

The anthropologist Margaret Mead (based on her studies of primitive tribes in New Guinea) once wrote: "Man is happiest when he is setting off on a hunt". Been a while since I approached one with such trepidation.