ShootingSportsEstanding

Shooting Sports and A Movie

ShootingSportsEstanding

Just as organized playground sports were a part of “the big kids” youth, shooting sports has been a part of M and E’s.

Before moving from Bayou Country to Glacier Country, I had envisioned the girls learning to shoot proficiently. I pictured them fresh faced, dressed in jeans, cowboy boots, and having target practice out on the ranch.

So when a few years back, I heard of an opportunity for kids to learn gun safety and shooting at the local sporting goods store, I encouraged M and E to take advantage of it. They liked it and subsequently joined the 4-H Shooting Sports program.

The program covers a variety of disciplines such as pistol, rifle, and archery. The kids are taught safety and marksmanship. M and E have learned a lot and I feel good about their ability to respect and handle a firearm.

Saturday’s shooting competition was an all day affair. M and E shot in the sporting rifle division. They were given 20 minutes in each category to complete their targets. First they shot in the prone position, then standing, and finally kneeling.

The day culminated with an awards ceremony in the afternoon. We arrived early at the Fairgrounds for the awards, but only after I convinced David to forgo picking up the movie “Temple Grandin”. (Earlier that day, I had decided the movie to be family friendly fare and had reserved it with Redbox. We picked it up later on the way home.) The awards ceremony took about an hour. There were some very accurate shooters there and Mallory took 6th place in her age group.

Afterwards we went home to watch the movie.

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This is one of those being in the flow kind of situations. Only a couple of days earlier, before renting the movie, David had looked up autism and thus had run across a video of one of Grandin’s lectures. Our family watched a clip of an androgynous looking woman with autism giving a speech. Honestly, I didn’t give her a second thought, nor remember her name until the movie popped up when I was looking for films to rent.

The movie “Temple Grandin” with Claire Danes is a good one. Temple is a likable character and an amazing woman with a number of notable achievements. I am however, still pondering the notion that autism is due to bad mothering.

Marlene