Task 44 & Task 97 - Visit the Gun Range (Wrentham Sportsman's Association) & Getting my License to Carry

While working I meet many interesting people. Often those people come from different walks of life then I and provide insight into the unique fabric of our country. Once such individual, John, who I have known for 7 years is a former Marine, engineer, now corporate safety officer at the company. His life experiences and wisdom have made him one of the more interesting characters at our lunch table. 

At 75 years old he is more active than many people my age and is more fun to be around. Being a retired military guy he has a great appreciation for guns and belongs to the local sportsman’s club and often talks about club competitions and his passion for firearms. He also happens to be the range officer at his club as well.

All those stories of course have piqued my interest and made me curious about getting my own license to carry. Both my parents and my brother have their licenses to carry and I thought perhaps I should visit the range.

John of course offered to take me and allow me to try out a variety of handguns from his collection. He decided on 5 different guns he would bring so I could see which would be a good fit for me. We set a date for my visit and right after work I met him at his house. 

A short drive across town and after singing into the club’s range book we headed over to their multi stall range. Before starting John reviewed the club’s safety rules and tested my knowledge of gun safety. Satisfied that I understood the importance of safety and the club rules we took each gun out 1 by one. Each time he reviewed the gun’s safety features and its operation. After reviewing all 5 guns we set up our target and he carefully watched me to ensure that I was properly handling, loading, and firing each.

Between each gun we retrieved the target and reviewed the shots. John provided a great feedback and recommendations that were invaluable to me tightening up my shot. We spent a little less than 2 hours at the range and from it I learned how much fun it was. 

After finishing up we removed all the ammunition, clips, and put away all guns together in their proper cases. Once everything was properly put away we next cleaned up the range by putting away the targets and sweeping up and properly disposing of the empty shells. 

John made sure that I understood that while shooting guns can be an enjoyable experience safety and knowing what these tools are capable of is the most important thing. You have to constantly be aware of how you handle, discharge and store guns at all times and be aware of others around you at the range. Mistakes happen but with guns there is no room for mistakes and the rules and safety procedures are there to make sure they don’t happen. 

 

Task 21 - Reduce debt by 10%

Our society exists based on credit. For many credit is a necessity to survive. Credit is a person’s ability to borrow money to make purchases that he/she doesn’t have the money to complete. Credit comes at a cost and any money borrowed must be paid back with interest. While there are many types of debt two are relevant to me. Those are short term revolving debt like credit cards and long term secured debt like mortgages.

I do my best to keep both types under control. When I started the Day Zero project I set up a plan to reduce my total debt by 10% over the course of 13 months during the 1001 day challenge. For me the majority of my debt is long term mortgage debt. All good plans sometimes find themselves with wrinkles. My wrinkle was car repairs.

This wrinkle came very early in my plan and delayed its execution while I recovered from that expense. It took me a good 8 months to replenish my reserves and start my debt reduction plan. What I focused on was paying double what I was required too on my long term debt and continuing to pay my short term debt off each month. 

The great thing about paying down more principle is that it reduces the interest on every payment after that. Reducing principle accelerates the total debt and reduces the total interest paid over the course of a loan.

In the last 8 months I have trimmed 15% of my total debt. That is with several large and expensive trips and purchases made. With no large expenses planned I am going to continue this debt reduction plan and trim even more debt. While I understand that mortgage are considered good debt I’d rather have no debt.

Task 29 - Russian Icon Museum

Located in a renovated 150-year-old former mill, court house & police station in central Massachusetts resides the largest collection of Russian Icon’s in North America. Gordon B Lankton’s vast collection started as a small personal collection which graced the walls of his home then corporate office when it grew too large. When the collection grew even larger and no suitable location could be found Mr Lankton decided he would start his own museum.

Opened in 2006 the renovated facility and contemporary aluminum clad addition is the culmination of his life’s work. The collection now consisting of more than 500 Russian icons and artifacts and isn’t just the largest in North America but also one of the largest outside of Russia. While visiting the museum I got the privilege of a guided tour by non-other than the founder. Gordon who can often be found in the museum provided us with a personalized tour of the 16,000 square foot facility and also shared a little history about his collection.

We learned his first piece was purchased at a Moscow flea market for $25 during his a visit to Russia. He also shared the story of how he came to own “Not Made by Hand” which he acquired after a long period of negotiation with a Moscow shop owner. The story of “Not Made By Hand” is an interesting one. It is a story of Syrian King Abgar who believed that an image of Christ could heal him from his illness. He sent a painter to see Christ who told him he need not paint him but instead asked him for a cloth. “Just give me a cloth and my face will be transferred to the cloth”. From what Gordon told us this icon the Icon of the Savior is one of the earliest icons witnessed by the church.

Next he told us the story of St Paraskeva who was born to a wealthy Greek Christian Family who while in Rome sought to teach the way Christ. This icon was a recent acquisition for the museum and is one of Gordon’s favorites. As the story goes Antonius Pius then emperor tortured and imprisoned Paraskeva. While being tortured she withstood being immersed in a vat of boiling oil. While immersed she stood up and threw some of the oil into the face of the emperor blinding him. She went to his side and told him that only the Christian God could cure him. Having regained his sight he ended all persecution against the Christians. She would later be beheaded after Antonius’s death.

Next he showed us a few modern pieces in his collection. The originals these replica’s duplicate almost exactly are housed in the Tretyakov State Gallery. They were painted by Alyona Knyazeva a master iconist based in Moscow

He has chosen to have Alyona create a few replica’s for display because export restrictions forbid taking icons out of Russia. Over the past decade it has only gotten harder and Gordon described to us having a few icon’s seized from him when he attempted to carry them out of the country. He later was able to legally take them out of Russia after some paper shuffling. Now he only purchases from auction houses and reputable dealers.

“Not Made By Hands” is one of those pieces and while owned by Gordon it is on loan to him from his collection that must be kept in Russia. Gordon also was able to secure a loan of 16 icons from the State Tretyakov Gallery. Gordon was able to accomplish this feat by covering all the costs related to insuring, transporting, custom fees, advertising and publishing a catalog of the pieces. These pieces have since been returned to the Russia.

After being given the best tour possible Gordon then introduced us to one of the museum docents names Svitlana. Svitlana’s expertise and knowledge of Russian icons’ was amazing. She began by explaining how they are painted using what is called tempera paint. Tempera paint is pigment mixed with egg yolk and water.

She also explained that icons are meant to be replicated and that many of the icon’s in the collection while still old are recreations of even older icons. Icons weren’t meant to be creative. They were instead meant to retell stories important to the people. She explained that for centuries that many of the people were illiterate and that religion was taught to the people pictorially

In addition to the vast collection the museum also has a Russian Tea House where guests can sample some authentic Russian treats. It also has a great gift shop where visitors can pick up a few uniquely Russian items to take home.

Nature Connects, Art with Lego Bricks at the Naples Botanical Garden

The Naples Botanical Garden was started in 1993 by 8 Naples residents. Comprised of over 170 acres in Old Naples it was transformed in 2008 into 6 cultivated gardens with 2.5 miles of walking trails and 90 acres of restored native preserve. Those 6 cultivated gardens represent unique environments.

"Nature Connects, Art with Lego Bricks" is a traveling exhibit of larger than life sculptures inspired by nature and built using over 500,000 Lego bricks that represents the complex and amazing network that interconnects all things that currently calls the Garden its home.
The exhibit features 27 award winning sculptures designed and created by the world’s first Lego certified professional Sean Kenney. From his studios in New York City with the help of several creative assistants Sean created this impressive
collection for us all to enjoy.


These 27 creations are spread throughout the parks 6 Gardens as a compliment to those environments. After leaving the visitor’s center and enter the gardens via the Palm Walk the first example is a mural wall where you can have your picture taken.

Named after the major benefactor of the Botanical Gardens the Kapnick Brazilian Garden includes flora from Brazil’s seven terrestrial ecosystems. The major attraction of the Brazilian Garden is the impressive waterfall. Atop the Water fall is a pool covered by 5 giant lily pads with a lotus bloom and a frog.


Next is the Caribbean Garden also named for the Kapkick family was designed to make you feel like you are on one of the Caribbean Islands. It includes a diverse landscape of lush tropical forests and exotic plants to dry forests and savannah’s of cactus and scrub. Along the Caribbean Lawn another of Sean Kenney’s creations can be found it is a lawnmower.

The Children’s garden is a carefree example of colorful flowers, vegetables, and butterflies with a tree house and babbling streams. Kids and adults alike can enjoy the jets of water or orient themselves with the huge in-ground compass. Here can be found the majority of the Lego creations.

In Judy’s Herb Garden you can find a garden worker tilling the soil, Golden Finches enjoying a birdfeeder. In the Butterfly gardens a Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly can be found. The most impressive display is the American Bumblebee flying majestically through the Tree house. Even farther in to the Children’s garden you can find a Fox stealthy hunting a Rabbit as he munches on some of the vegetation.

The Water Garden is at the heart of the Botanical Gardens. It is a river of grass and is filled with water lilies, lotuses and papyrus. A boardwalk transects the water garden and often serves as a stage as it did on the day of our visit. We were treated to the sound of music from the performing Jazz in the Garden Trio. It is surrounded by the Great Lawn and is a popular spot for visitors to lay out a blanket and have a picnic. Along the boardwalk flying over the water is the Common Green Darner Dragonfly.

The Asian Garden is a collection of tropical and subtropical plants including rice paddies, coconut groves and rubber plants. It includes a Balinese Shrine, the Candi Suka Ruin and a Thai Riverside Pavilion.  The Jumping Koi can be found in the serene Japanese tea Garden here.

The Florida Garden’s major element is the Great Circle which is reminiscent of the numerous pot lakes that can be seen all over southwest Florida. It is planted with many of the indigenous plants including bougainvillea and silver palmetto. It is also home to four impressive exhibits. As you walk in you can’t help but see the Hummingbird and Flower floating effortlessly as it drinks the nectar. Behind him are a Bison and Calf grazing in the grass. As you approach the more forested section you find a fallen acorn now germinating hoping to one day grow big and strong. Along the way out you find a oversized Rose so beautiful it’s hard to not want to lean in and see it if smells as sweet as it is large.

 

After a long day enjoying Nature Connects with Lego’s along the 2.5 miles of paths meandering through the impressive Botanical Garden we decided to head back to the Welcome Center before leaving. It is here that the final example can be found. A Delicate Moth Orchid stands proudly for everyone to appreciate the intricate detail up close.