Month: July 2022

I’ve taken up a new hobby. Gotta Catch ‘Em All!

Ben and I were watching an anime and eating Cupbop, a Friday night tradition we started during the pandemic. This night it was 5 Centimeters per Second. Though the movie wasn’t great (it was an early film by one of our favorite writer/directors, Makoto Shinkai), I was struck by inspiration. The protagonist practiced archery and I remembered again how cool it looks and that I would love to add it to my arsenal of skills. Plus it would be great to have an outdoor sport to enjoy with Ben.

Ben has dabbled in archery for several years. He even has a membership to the Golden High Country Archers range. So that weekend he took me to his range and let me try out his bow. Yup. Very fun. I wanted in.

We had to wait an interminable three days for the local archery store to open after the holiday weekend. 😉 The salesman was very helpful and even gave me an impromptu lesson. I got a Samick recurve bow with a 20 lb. draw weight, a half dozen arrows, and an armguard (I had quickly whipped up a mighty bruise on my forearm with Ben’s bow).

I’m a total beginner. Tonight I got all 6 arrows on the target board, huzzah! Usually 2-3 go over/under. It’s great fun and I hope to make it a regular weekly activity for us. Ben also seems to be renewing his fondness for the sport. We might take the kids with us tomorrow. Sam has been using the child bow at home, and Jack can share my lightweight bow.

Here’s our first trip:

And here’s today with my full kit (quiver and glove came midweek via Amazon). This is my 4th time shooting.

We celebrated a chill holiday. Not a lot of patriotic joy, but we enjoyed the nice weather and traditional cultural activities.

We picked up sandwiches and took some boardgames to the park.

They boys have both taken up whittling. Jack is working on a Wizarding World wand. Sam is learning on soap bars, which he shapes into “bones.”

We had dinner of hot dogs, corn, watermelon, and potato salad. We make s’mores in the backyard. I took some gooey pics to share with my penpal overseas.

Later we walked down to the elementary school field to watch the local fireworks display. There were many bats swooping overhead that were fun to watch too. It felt like a bigger crowd than the past several years. I wonder if the neighborhood is de-aging. Many seniors have sold their houses to younger families during this real estate spike. Or maybe more people are ditching the official, more crowded, field for our unofficial viewing spot. It was certainly a festive atmosphere. The boys were aghast and impressed by all the illegal aerial fireworks that folks were setting off around us in the park. At least we’ve had enough rain that we aren’t on high wildfire risk status.