*Disclaimer: I don't own a pet turtle.
*Secondly, I will tell you that this will be the last retelling of the day at the medieval fair. I accomplished nothing else on that day, so the next post will be free of hot and sweaty nerd smell. Moving on now...
As I wandered about the fair, one of the things that I had secretly been looking forward to doing was to shoot a bow and arrow. I had never even attempted to pick up a bow, let alone shoot an arrow at something. I don't know why, but the thought of doing so had me in a bit of an internal tizzy. My desire may have been rooted in the years of being a dork and playing bow wielding rangers in many a D&D campaign. But you won't hear me ever admitting to that out loud.
As I walked up to the booth with my mead in hand (that's right, tipsy with a weapon in my hand), I was actually a little timid. I didn't know the protocol of asking someone if I could fire a weapon. Would they insist on showing me how to do it first? Would they really put me fully in charge of a bow, or would it be something akin to the pony rides at the state fair, where the five year old may think she's riding a horse, but boy do I have news for her on how legitimate her experience really was...
I overcame my initial impulse to just keep walking past the booth, and I approached the woman taking money and handing over the bow and arrows to us commoners. It was $5 for a round of shooting. A little steep, but I was still willing. This "lady" was wearing a dark purple corset that was about 5 times too small for her mid portion and her rather large honkers, and she had her hair in an updo that was a nod to Princess Leia's cinnamon bun look in Star Wars. When I saw this appear before me, all feelings of intimidation went out the window. I slapped down my money, she looked me up and down, and handed over the appropriate sized brightly colored bow with 10 arrows.
The shooting range was set up as a row of 5 stalls facing a few bales of hay stacked up with red targets painted on them. I walked into the remaining free stall, handed my drink to a friend (because you shouldn't mix alcohol and fire power together kids), and I went about figuring out how to do the damn thing. All I had to do really was watch the person next to me once, and I saw how to notch the arrow and how to pull the arrow and bowstring back. The hardest part of the hand eye coordination for me was trusting myself to let go with my right hand while still holding on to the bow with my left.
My first shot was not very successful, but the arrow did in fact fly from my bow towards the hay stacks. It may have fallen to the ground before it got there, but we were heading in the right direction folks. The next two arrows were far better, though I have to admit that it was after arrow three that I noticed (duh) that I should be aiming for the red circle targets. Not just decoration. By the time I got to my last two or three arrows, I was marginally accurate. I was letting the arrows fly with some speed, and I was getting insanely close to the target zone. One time, I even managed to hit a target. Let's be honest, if there were enemies in front of me instead of bales of hay, I would have been killed faster that you can say Legolas. However, in a controlled environment, I fared pretty well. The hay never stood a chance.
The experience was strangely exhilarating, and I would be lying if I said I didn't want to do it again. In fact, I may become a medieval fair junky just so that I can get my bow shooting fix. Next thing you know, I'll own my own bow. Because that's just how I roll.
0 comments:
Post a Comment