1. Forward - The required explanation.

 

 I have taken a few weeks off work at the end of yet another very busy year, this is the first time I have taken more than a week off in seven years. 

After pottering around and going through the end of year motions of work parties, Christmas, and the new year, I have found myself at a bit of a loss for stuff to do, don't get me wrong though there is a to do list that is always there like everyone has except now I have time to do some of it.

In the top five was to clean up the shed, we built a house on a couple of acres and had a 12m x 9m shed built as well. When we moved in a couple of years ago we had to vacate the granny flat at my in-law’s property where the wife and three boys were living, I had a flat in Geelong that I lived during the week to avoid the commute while we were building a business and said house and there was a storage unit where the stuff we had carted across the country for over a decade was sitting. It all got moved into the shed and some of it is still sitting where I first put it.

After a day or so I came across 2 dozen arrow shafts I bought and put on a shelf along with all my arrow building stuff, points, feathers, paints etc so I put building arrows on my to do list. Before I go on, some history of myself and archery.

First picked up a bow about 8-9 years ago, started with a compound with all the bells and whistles, 6 months later went to barebow and not long after went to a modern longbow and ended up traditional longbow, been there ever since. I shoot with the local field archery club, Colac Otway Archers and have been the president of the club for a couple of years.

I’ve had some moderate success with shooting, my average scores hover around 270 for a three arrow. 200 for one arrow rounds with some better rounds occasionally, some rounds well below those scores as well.

The passion faded for a few years for the reasons noted in the blog description. Finding the shafts has rekindled it somewhat so I’m going to run with that. In a deep and meaningful talk to myself I have decided to commit 2023 to jumping right back in and having a red-hot crack at improving those scores and enjoying shooting again.

This isn’t a new year’s resolution, that stuff is pointless as things almost always return to where they were by mid-February. My theory is that by putting it out there to my club mates and the broader archery community, I am making myself accountable to them and to myself.

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