I got to chat with Robert “Steamy” Chow at the Farmers Market Saturday morning. When I was a kid, people called him “Steam Pork.” But since then it’s evolved to “Steamy.” He was an old friend of my father’s and although I had never met him before, Pop talked about him so often I feel like I know him.

Steamy was a master caliber pistol shooter, as was Pop. Pop was into pistol competitions. He built his own pistol range, made his own koa gun box that he took to competitions, and carved custom koa handgrips for his pistols when the store-bought custom grip did not work just right.

I can remember that Pop would “dry run practice” for hours at home. He put a piece of black tape on the living room wall and practiced focusing. Since a person cannot focus both near and far at the same time, he had a routine. He would focus on, and level, the front and rear sights, making sure the distances through the rear sights were equal from side to side.

Then he kept that relationship steady and refocused downrange, to balance the black bullseye on top of the front and rear sights, which were out of focus but already set.

To become as proficient as humanly possible he exercised to strengthen his shooting arm. The stronger the better. For hours he practiced holding his breath—thinking his heart rate down so that his arm would stay steady.

Pop was amazing. He was not satisfied merely to hit the bullseye. He was more interested in how many times he hit the “x,” which is the mark in the middle of the bullseye.

When live firing and “in the zone,” he could call the shots. He would say, “2 o’clock X.” This meant he thought his round had hit the bullseye on the right upper side of the “X.” More often than not, Pop was right.

He told us: “Like everything else, it’s a mental game.” This was his shorthand for figuring out where you need to be, breaking the problem down into its essential elements and then doing or inventing what you need to get there.

At the market Saturday morning, Steamy said he has followed our farming progress in the newspapers for many years. He told me, “You’re just like your dad.” This reinforced in me the belief that influencing a child early in life can have a positive impact. And because I had such respect for my Pop, it also made me feel good.

Pop always said, “Not, no can. CAN!” I learned this lesson well and I still absolutely believe it. I want to give kids the opportunity to feel like anything is possible.

It’s great to go to the Kino‘ole Farmers Market on Saturday mornings. Talking story with people makes it so interesting and gratifying.