Audio By Carbonatix
Marble shooting is so satisfying it’s easy to become passionate or even obsessive about it. There’s care taken to arrange the targets in a perfect formation after choosing the perfect ledge upon which to set them. There’s the weightiness of the rifle, a .22 perhaps, and the cold feel of the metal in your hand. Goggles donned and adjusted, stance perfected and a deep breath before pulling the trigger. So very Texas, you can imagine a coyote howling in the distance or perhaps a javelina goring a small bunny. The shot–bang!–and the scatter of shards of glass tinkling down on the rocky terrain. So much more fulfilling than the ole milk bottle because there’s so much more skill required. For those of us with amassed childhood experience in marble shooting, first place should be a piece of cake this weekend, as long as we don’t show up at the Marble Shooting Tournament and get escorted off the premises like last time.
Sure, we didn’t see anyone else with a gun, gat, rod or whatever lingo’s flying around out there. And, yeah, it seemed a little odd that there were so many elementary schoolchildren, but how were we to know the tournament was an amazingly less literal and less violent assault on beautiful little glass orbs than we were taught on the deer lease? At least this time we’re armed with the knowledge that the tournament is only open to kiddos ages 6 to 13. Those lucky bastards, they even get 13 free marbles in a cloth marble bag, every participant wins a prize and the grand prize for each age group is a collectible marble kaleidoscope (which, by the way, makes for a fun day of hunting if you attach it to the scope of your rifle).
Six bucks and the buckaroos can shoot marbles for prizes and sheer respect in the sport of marble shooting. Since we can’t compete, we’re gonna leave our precious Twila the .22 at home, but surely some of the kids who show Saturday and Sunday will have some sweet shooters to check out. Our 10-year-old neighbor says no one will have guns, just string for the game circle and readied thumbs. Whatever that means. Who shoots a gun in a string circle with his thumb?
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