Overdue thank yous and some cool stuff

I’ve been pretty far out of it for most of two weeks. I’m returning to the land of the living now, but don’t know whether I’ll ever catch up on obligations — particularly email.

The least I can do now that my brain has decided to move back into my head is say a few overdue thanks. Here goes:

To SF and RW for the shipments of medicinals and immune-system boosters. I thought I had an okay immune-system routine going, but this illness really shook me.

To Ellendra for patiently and specifically answering my questions about specialized herbals.

And to Commentariat members who also chimed in.

Just before I came down sick, I received this nifty tool from old friend The Shy One:

His Christmas gifts to me usually include a BIG bag of
California dried apricots, which arrived earlier, and some sort of very clever blade. This year’s choice is a folding handsaw which came all the way from Europe. Going to be useful in the woods and in the garden, I think. Thank you, TSO.

Then as I began to recover I got this from JW:

The most recent book by Mountain Guerrilla “John Mosby.” It contained some amazingly great bookmarks, too. 🙂

According to the book’s Lulu page:

this volume covers all aspects of using the handgun in the anti-personnel role, including (but not limited to) carry gear and weapon selection, optimizing your weapon when you don’t get a choice about what gun is available, shooting fundamentals of the pistol, and practical applications. This book goes on to cover mindset and contextual applications of these skills in different circumstances that we may find ourselves in today, tomorrow, and in the near future.

As JW wrote in the note he sent along, neither he nor I have any pretension to being gun ninjas. Even so, Mosby won me over on the first two pages with his explanation for why he chose “clandestine” as part of his subtitle. The big takeaway:

I tend to be one of the lone dissenting voices that openly encourages people to carry their damned gun, even when it is not legal where you are going! I don’t have reserve officer credentials, and I face the exact same penalties for illicit carry as any of my students. I am one of the few trainers I know who readily admits that I carry illegally on a regular basis.

Even though he casts shade, in the very next paragraph, on the idea of embracing an outlaw identity, he has excellent reasons. (And I don’t think he’s an opponent of Freedom Outlawry, just a practical sort of guy.)

I’m going to enjoy this read.

If I’ve forgotten any well-earned thank yous, chalk it up to my brain still not being fully resident in my skull after its fevered removal. But it’s getting there …