Letter: Exceptional Individuals

Hi Hugh,

I have a good friend. His name is J.P. We met at the base gun club. He was there firing his WW2 Era carbine, and I had my “Modern Sporting Rifle” He shot tighter groups than me at 200 yards that day with his iron sights, I had my big fancy rifle with a big fancy scope. It had not been my first day at the range, but it felt like it that day. We kind of hit it off from there.

One day J.P invited me and my son on a fishing trip. My son was three years old at the time. J.P had small boat with a modest motor, pulled by a small car with a trailer hitch attached, to get us to the lake. When we got to lake, J.P chuckled at the huge trucks there, pulling massive speedboats. “City folk”, he called them.

We took his boat into the middle of the lake. My son caught three fish in less than 10 minutes, with J.P’s careful guidance of course.

Afterwards, J.P invited us back to his home for some refreshments. He has a fair sized property. He showed me his treehouse/lookout post he built on one of the mature trees on his land.It must of been 20 feet in the air. He told me sometimes he will sometimes spend all night up there, taking care of varmints with his trusty 22.

Inside his house, it was real clean. I could hear a Christian TV program playing in the background. J.P introduced me to his wife. A pretty lady, from some far away Scandinavian country. She was especially kind to my Son.

We all sat and chatted for some time, about family, about the army. About times past. My Son suddenly had to go pee, so Dad and his three year old went about their business. To make it clear, I am real careful of how I conduct myself in another man’s home, so when my son darted into another room of the house, I yelled “Get back here”. “No Dad, look!, my son yelled back. That’s when I saw J.P’s toys.

Sitting on what looked like a hand crafted bookshelf was a battleship, a car, and a tractor. I have never seen such finer pieces of craftmanship. All made from hard wood. All hand crafted. They looked as if they were made yesterday, but they were probably 50 years old, or more. They were made by J.P’s Father, for his son.

I don’t speak to J.P much anymore. Life is kinda like that sometimes. I would have to say I have never met a more prepared individual, with perhaps the sole exception being the author James Wesley, Rawles; whom I was fortunate to chat with. And I also know professional outdoorsmen, and soldiers from elite units. JP of course had been both.

Funny thing Hugh, is that when the Schumer hits the fan, I am not even sure if J.P would take much notice. He would probably just continue on doing what he was always done, and what he was taught to do; Providing for himself and his family.

Do you, or the Readers, know of exceptional individuals like my friend J.P? If so I would like to know. – God bless from M.S.




6 Comments

  1. I enjoyed this article.
    “Funny thing Hugh, is that when the Schumer hits the fan, I am not sure if J.P. would take much notice. He would probably just continue on …”

    That should be all of our’s objective. If we are reading this blog we are probably already living in actual reality. Love of God and family drive our actions. Love of country drive our decisions on where and how we live. We need to remain self aware and live within our means while paying respect to the old ways.

    My Aunt Mary and Uncle Joe lived in Orofino before Dworshak. They had chickens, a large vegetable garden and made their own beer. They were surrounded by family and friends. In the summer we lived outside. We did live day to day but without a 24 hour news cycle and plastic money we planned for tomorrow by putting in cord wood, canning vegetables and meat, maintaining the chicken coop etc. We wanted for nothing. The Lord does provide when we do our part.

    Thanks for the reminder.

  2. What a great story. I have found that real preparedness is more of a lifestyle than some sort of goal to achieve. living life with a relaxed attitude. You can because you have a garden and driving to town to grocery shop takes a whole day, and nothing beats canned veggies out of your garden. You cut wood for your wood stove because you like low energy bills. Hunt because it’s fun, fish because its relaxing ( and you cant beat the taste of smoked blue back) We walk to church, know everyone in our little town by name. We ride our ATV’s and side x sides without hassles. shoot our guns, help each other out when needed. Life is slower and more meaningful when you arent distracted with the day to day problems of living in densely populated cities.

  3. I would suggest that you get back in touch with J.P. if you have drifted apart. One of my great regrets is the number of smart people I didn’t have time to listen to in my youth. Now that I realize my mistake, they’re gone and I can’t learn from them.

  4. Yes. His initials were MHL. He was a WWII vet that dated my grandmother. When my dad went to Vietnam he took my mother and me in. When things didn’t work out between MHL and my grandmother, or between my mother and father, MHL stayed in my life and got me involved in Scouting and taught me what I needed to know growing up. He was big on moral values, standing by your word and believed heavily in “Be Prepared” although he was not a prepper. He even provided a college education for me after he had passed away. I considered that man my father and miss him every day. The lessons he taught me have been passed down to my own kids in one form or another. The lesson is – step into some kid’s life. You are more needed than you know.

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