I have a sense that everyone
has been awaiting -- actually, eagerly awaiting -- another post with some
reference to firearms .... so, here goes ....
These three pistols often are
called "mouse guns," stemming from the
fact they all are small calibers -- .25 acp caliber (6.35 millimeter), which is
very small, indeed. Never-the-less, little more than a century ago these
semi-automatic pistols were among the preferred weapons of many European
military and police forces because they were semi-automatic and had six-round,
detachable magazines, which translated into firing as fast as one could pull
the trigger and quick reloading. The lower one is a Fabrique Nationale (FN) de
Herstal Vest Pocket Pistol. This type was manufactured from 1905/6-1959. The
one here was made in 1919, and has been carried a considerable number of times.
The upper two are 1931 Fabrique Nationale Baby Browning Pistols, improved
variations of the 1905/6, which were made by FN until 1969. Other companies
have produced "replicas" off and on since then. Either of the two on top are so
small as to fit into a pack of cigarettes. The one on the right was made
sometime between 1954 and 1958. Best "guesstimate" is 1956. I have carried it on
occasion. The one on the left was made in 1960. I acquired it recently, and
really have no idea why I did -- just an urge to spend money, I suppose.
By the way, I was trying to be
funny when I used the words "eagerly awaiting" a few sentences back. I realize
many people -- probably most people -- do not have the same enthusiastic feelings
that I do regarding firearms, but I am me and "me likes guns" .... especially
FNs and Brownings ....
Here
today, forever gone tomorrow
Something
to think about:
Extinction:
The act of making extinct or causing to be extinguished; the condition or fact
of being extinct or extinguished; the state or situation that results when
something has died out completely.
Those
are a few dictionary definitions of the word "extinction." I have decided that I
will use that word and variations of it in reference to myself when I will be /
am dead. Fram has become extinct. After all, that will be the case -- will it
not?
Fram,
the unique, one-of-a-kind creature who once walked among us, will be gone, will
be no more, will have vanished from the Earth forevermore. Certainly there are
many similar to me and some parts of me will continue on through children and
grandchildren and future descendants. That is true. But, unless cloning becomes
a reality, my genetic self will be gone. And, I am certain a valid argument can
be made that even a cloned me will not be the real me -- not be Fram Actual, in
military radio parlance.
The
same will be true of you. Here today, gone forever tomorrow -- or, at least,
gone at some point down the road.
Nope
.... I am not going morbid on you .... just a momentary fling with reality .... sort
of planning ahead, in a manner of speaking ....
Yep
.... something to think about ....
7 comments:
Well that was a strange message to us.Do not quite understand what you mean?Fram vanishes and the real person is born into a new site?..or is it life it self.You have to explain this young man!
Guns guns and more guns..Nice picture!They certainly are very old(The one here was made in 1919, and has been carried a considerable number of times. The upper two are 1931 Fabrique Nationale Baby Browning Pistols, and used many times I quess)
What do you use them for??
Or is it just something you collect !!I quess they all are very expensive.You have to have them in a box or something.No wonder you like to watch war movies from the past like Guadalcanal Diary with Anthony Quinn,Where Eagles Dare Clint Eastwood, Thin red line..The list is long..
I hope you treat them real nice those baby gunners :)
Here at my place i have been down with a bad flu-coughing all night --Doc gave me medicine but makes me very sleepy
We have wonderful autumm weather and the snow has arrived in the mountains
Anita
Until the advent of genetic study, Anita, I would describe myself as three-quarters Norwegian and a quarter German. This was because three of my grandparents were Norwegian and one was German. Having had my DNA tested, I discover my ancestry is eighty-nine (89) percent Norwegian and a smattering of others, none of which overtly indicates a bit of German.
Brothers and sisters do not have the same genetic makeup, even so-called "identical twins." Even though identical twins derive from just one fertilized egg, they do not have a single set of genetic instructions, or genome. There even is a theory that genetic variations can arise after a double strand of DNA breaks when exposed to ionizing radiation or carcinogens, which means changes can occur over the course of an individual's lifetime.
Genetic study is a relatively new and complicated science. No doubt changes/discoveries in this science will take place as "time marches on ...."
Something like that is what I was trying to say. The words in my post had nothing to do with an individual's spirit or soul or essence. In a religious sense, those things have more to do with environment and faith, which, of course, have links to genes; in a practical sense, from my point of view, it probably amounts to a maze of unsolvable mysteries -- at least at this point in time.
As for the pistols in the photograph -- I like guns, most particularly old guns. I like to think/wonder where they have been and what they have been used for and of the individuals who have had them before me. I enjoy shooting them at all manner of targets, even on combat pistol courses, despite their small size and small caliber. There also have been times I have carried both the older FN and the older "Baby."
James Jones, the same guy who wrote, "From Here to Eternity," and, "The Thin Red Line," also wrote a novelette, "The Pistol." It is short, fewer than two hundred (200) pages. Find it and read it and you might gain a better understanding of me. I have both a left side and a right side .... sometimes they are in conflict.
Hmmmm .... this is getting long. My weather is cold/damp/rainy .... which pretty much describes my mood most days. I need wind/water/sun to keep me content and happy.
I hope you quickly return to good health, Anita, and I want to thank you for coming to visit me here and for being so daring as to write a comment for this particular post. Neither the post nor I are as strange as we might appear to be at times.
You are a sweetie, Anita .... always stay that way ....
Hey, Fram,
According to Buddha we are not going to be gone or extinct, we will find ourselves in a different life and body.
Perhaps, this theory is more optimistic then to know that you will be gone forever. And I don't believe in "gone forever". Until someone dear to you lives in your memories he or she is alive and constantly present in your life. I hope it makes sense.
Greetings.
I didn't listen to Phil Collins for a long, long time. You brought him back. Thank you!
Some religions, primarily Oriental and notably Buddhism and Hinduism, promote belief in reincarnation, and over the course of history Orthodox Judaism and some Christian religions have "flirted" with the notion of the transmigration of souls.
I was writing about the physical being becoming extinct, Kaya, and not thinking at all about it in a religious sense. The words in my post had nothing to do with an individual's spirit or soul or essence.
Yes, it is true in a sense that as long as you live in someone's memory, you are not entirely gone -- but physical reality is that you are gone / really gone / forever gone. Think of this in terms of DNA and genes, and you will see what I mean. Even if reincarnation could exist, genetic duplication of a person is impossible -- at least at this point in time. Essence theoretically might be renewable, but physical selves are not.
I am glad you enjoyed the music by Phil Collins. Among his songs, this one is my favorite. Thank you, Kaya, for coming and for commenting. I am happy you are back and posting again.
I know that you wrote about physical matter but are we more that only our physical existence.
It terrifies me that I can disappear into a black void. I believe that I would survive as a consciousness.
I think that without weight of our body we are some kind of energy because everything on this planet Earth filled with energy. I also believe that we are spiritual. Spirituality has a much broad meaning than being religious.
Fram, you can't just look into only physical matter...
I like to believe there is more to us than our physical being and I think there is a great probability of it being actual, but what there is beyond the physical is a question mark in my mind. It may be something on the order of a soul with or without recognition of one's self as an entity .... or, it simply may be pure energy, without rhyme or reason, which is absorbed into a greater mass of energy upon our death.
Here is a portion of a story taken from the, "Heimskringla," by Snorri Sturluson. Rather than explain what the book is and who Snorri was, I will suggest you check them out on the internet if you are curious:
"Then Earl Eirik laid his ship alongside that of Vagn. There was a terrific defence, but in the end his ship was cleared of men and Vagn made captive, together with thirty others, and brought ashore.
"Then Thorkel Leira went up to them and said, 'You made the vow, Vagn, that you would kill me, but now it seems more likely to me that I shall kill you.' Vagn and his men all sat together on a log. Thorkel wielded a big axe and hewed down the man who sat on the end of the log.
"Vagn and his companions were tied in such a fashion that a rope was slung around the feet of all of them, leaving their arms free. Then one of them said, 'Here I have a dagger in my hand, and I shall stick it in the round if I am conscious when my head is chopped off.' He was beheaded, and the dagger dropped from his hand."
The episode goes on after that, but that much serves my purpose. Physical death is physical death, and when it occurs there is nothing to indicate what happens to the energy we all evidently possess -- call it spirit, call it soul, call it essence, call it life force, call it what you will. I suppose there is a chance we will find out when death arrives for us, but, it seems to me, there is an equal chance physical death is the absolute/complete/total end of our existence in any and all ways. An individual needs religious faith to believe otherwise, and I have no such faith.
If I have any religion at all, I would describe it as a blend of pantheism and deism. I do consider myself to be very spiritual within that mix, and that mix is one of the deeper reasons why I stopped hunting and why I occasionally write about manitous.
I have, for some time, been at a point where I do not fear death, but I do have a great curiosity about it. Life is like a canoe trip along a river, I think, and when I am in a canoe on a river, I always want to see what is around the next bend. The same is true about my voyage through life.
Thank you, Kaya. I enjoy our "conversations" very much ....
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