I know that the calendar says today is Tuesday, but let's be honest for a moment, it's a Monday. The tasks are typical Monday fair, and the feeling of running in quicksand is distinctively Monday.
That being said, it was a great weekend. On Saturday Janika the twins and I hung out with Steve and Lori. We went out to breakfast at Norma's, looked at musical instruments at Murphy's Music, and then went to Silverlake Marina on Grapevine Lake. Steve and I both love to look at boats, and since we were in Grapevine we decided to go to Bass Pro and look at the boats there. While we were there I decided I wanted to look at the archery equipment.
You see, one of my fondest memories is saving up $12 to buy a bow and arrow set. Once I had managed to save up the money, my parents took me to the feed store to get a bale of hay to use as a target. I remember shooting it at the football field across the street, and being very proud of the accuracy I was able to produce. Sadly, once that bow was gone I didn't pick one up again seriously until this weekend.
We had been in Bass Pro looking around for a while when I headed over to the archery department, and started browsing through the bows and various accessories. I thought it would be fun to shoot as a hobby, and then use my bow for hunting as well. So I looked at bows, and then left the archery department to find the rest of my crew. They were in the clothing area, and Steve was trying on some very spiffy shirts. Janika was looking through the clearance racks, but I knew what I wanted, and I couldn't wear it.
As adeptly as possible I strung my fellow travelers over to the Archery department, and proceeded to pick up the bows that I had determined to be the best options for my goals. Matt, the associate who helped me, talked me through some of the finer points of modern compound bows. I settled on a Fred Bear Showdown, and they proceeded to adjust the sights, pull and all of the other bow dynamics for me. The gentlemen at Bass Pro were great. Not only did they set up my bow, they gave me some advice on proper form, and how to use the equipment I was buying.
The bow I bought had a front sight, a rear peep sight, and weird things like a "stabilizer" and a "whisker biscuit". I also had to buy a release, arrows, and a target. Once I had purchased all of this, (to the silent, peaceful resignation of my wife) we headed home. I was excited, and posted on Facebook that I had bought a bow. I was amazed at the speed in which the conversations started. My brother Matt has a very similar bow to mine, and we started talking shop. Soon he was posting videos of him shooting, and the bug became too much. I grabbed my gear and headed out to the back yard.
Honestly I was a little scared, it had been many moons since I had last fired a bow, and now I was dealing with a completely foreign sighting system, release system, and style of shooting than I had ever know. To amplify the new factor, I was shooting in my back yard. After a couple of shots I was in love. Using a release is almost a Zen experience compared to using your fingers. Add to that the sighting system, smoothness of pull, and balance of a modern compound bow and it was incredible. I continued shooting until my shoulders and back where sore from using muscles that hadn't seen work in years.
I love my family, and over the years regret that my relationship is not stronger with my closest (age wise) brother. The fact that there is something like this that we both thoroughly enjoy makes me hopeful for future days; Possible hunting trips, and getting together to enjoy a great sport together.
Mike
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