that the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of Heller in the District of Columbia v. Heller case yesterday. There are several blogs, news reports, and the NRA web site that have all the details, so I won’t go into them. I’m just glad that the SCOTUS ruled in favor of the opinion that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to keep and bear arms.

Yesterday was a good day

Okay, it was not really a dinner, but you get the idea. The Colonial District had its annual awards presentation evening on Wednesday. They did a good job of patting everyone on the back. They did mess up Mike’s award though. At least he got the recognition he deserves alongside his fellow peers; we’ll just have to get him the actual certificate later. I got a recognition too. A Decade of Service award. This is the Colonial District’s 10th anniversary since the old George Washington District was split into three, and they made up a really nice plaque for the occasion. I can’t believe its been 10 years! I know I’ve been doing this for a long time, but wow. How time flies. It was a nice pat on the back. Remind me to scan it for you some time.

One giant step for my son. He managed to survive his first major solo road trip to Goshen He got there sometime late afternoon. And what’s more surprising is this: he’s actually been using that iPod Touch we got him for graduation to keep in tough with his mom. (Goshen has wifi in all the admin buildings.)

Now, back to planning my three NRA Instructor courses. This will be an interesting summer.

Started the weekend Friday afternoon with the spring IOLS class. Despite being deliberately lazy, I got to the CG Station right at 4pm. Even when I try to be late I’m on time ;  Class went very well; we had 32 students. We had enough critical mass to actually simulate a troop. Very cool.

Weathermen lie. Never trust them. We checked the weather radio at 11:30pm right before we went to bed, and it said no rain or storms till Saturday evening. It was Friday evening just so you know. By 12:30am it started raining. At 2:30am the heavy thunderstorms rolled through. Hanging in between two trees during a thunderstorm is not the smartest place to be. And of course all the OA gear we left out got pretty soaked. Fortunately Saturday was warm and clear, so it all dried out pretty quick. So, just remember weathermen lie and always be prepared for rain

Sunday was day 1 of my 2 day PPOH student course, on my way to getting my instructor rating in it. Very exciting and interesting course. Most akward thing for me for a long while in the course was drawing from a holster to fire at [paper] targets. We’re - the collective - generally taught to shoot by picking up a pistol from a bench or table. Its a completely different mind set and takes some getting used to. If you carry a concealed firearm for personal protection and have never taken a personal protection class (I’m not talking about just basic pistol skills) then you need to get out right now and take one.

And today Phil set out on his first road trip! 200 miles to Goshen Scout Reservation. By himself! Yes, I’m a bit nervous. Not that he is a bad driver (on the contrary); its just that he’s never been on a 4 hour drive - solo even! Come to think of it he should be just about there by now, if he’s not there already…

Well… this is a momentus time. Phil graduated from high school last Friday. Got his driver’s license last week too. I remember those episodes in my life. His graduation was better than mine I have to say. I think I win the DMV side though - less admin hastles ‘back in the day.’

Its a strange feeling knowing your son is growing up and ready to move on with the next chapter of his life. Most of his friends too, as they tend to hang out at our house a lot (strangely, just like mine did at his age.) He heads off for summer camp staff early next week, and by the end of the summer will be off to the Army. God help them both But I’ll miss him - both over the summer and into the fall. He’s been around for 18 years, and now I feel like I’m about to go into withdraws. It will be interesting to see how my wife and I fair over the summer.

Our last big event together for the forseable future will be in August when we work on something for the OA together. I’m not supposed to say what though. I’ll let you in on the secret when the time comes.