Piracy

What are your thoughts on piracy?

I'm not talking about illegally downloading music or movies...I'm talking about the modern-day pirates who are plying the waters currently around Africa. I did a paper on them for my Globalization and Lit class my senior year of college, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It made writing a 25-pager much more entertaining when the subject matter interests me. And yes, before you ask, I would definitely run off to become a pirate. In fact, during graduation, my friend Roger told me that he would join my crew if I asked. It was a nice goodbye.

Anyhow, the reason I bring this up is because I am putting pirates in my book. I don't really know the angle yet, but I'm working on it. I'll keep you posted.

What Happened To Fall?

We skipped my favorite season--figures. As soon as October hit, we went straight into snowstorms and extremely cold weather. No mild leaf-strolling for us...I am completely unhappy with that. That being said, it won't ruin my Halloween! I have a few different costume ideas I'm working on. The problem will be deciding which one to do...

My Bow!

I got my bow! It is 64 inches long and has a 25 pound draw. In addition to that, it is beautiful and shoots like a dream. I took it to Dan's tonight and he showed me how to string it and then we took it out to the target and started practicing. It took me a couple shots to get the feel of it, but once I did it was awesome. I am working on the mechanics of shooting--doing the same things everytime. The hardest for me is to get my pointer finger to the corner of my mouth and then instead of letting go to stop holding on--yes, there is a difference. Letting go involves my hand flying out into space. So the few times I managed to stop holding on, I had the bow drawn back too far and I got a wicked fletching burn on my face. Not fun. And then it was too cold to continue. But I'm excited to see what else I can do with this thing. My bow is also, incidentally, an oldster. 1950s or thereabouts. I did a little research online.

Adventures In Outlaw Country

Outlaw Canyon!

Checking out the pictographs

The cave where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid hid out.

Today we drove to Outlaw Canyon, outside of Kaycee. It was the coolest place I've been in a long time! I brought my slack line but I didn't ever put it up. It was windy and wonderful there. We made hotdogs and hamburgers--well, antelope burgers, I guess they were. Dan and Juanita brought those. Then we took many pictures and explored everything. There wasn't time to go down into the canyon to find the cave that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid hid out in. That we'll save for another time, when we don't have a 4-yr old and a 1-yr old along. Then we went to the pictograph cave and looked at that. I was fascinated by the cool rock formations--little bumpies all over the rock, like warts, or softballs sticking out of the surface. All in all, it was pretty cool. It might be my new favorite place.

Bow

I bought my first bow! Dan found me a good one on Ebay and I entered into the great adventure that is an Ebay auction...I'm lying. I actually DO NOT enjoy bidding on Ebay items. I am too competetive and I don't think, "The best man won!" whatsoever. I get annoyed and grumpy when someone else bids and think uncharitable thoughts about them. Anway, the point of the story is that I won! And my new bow shall be arriving soon.

And for this weekend? Slack lining, putting together my sweet scrapbook that Heather D made me at camp for my birthday, figuring out my jewelry storage situation, and my creativity project!

Counting

Today was the longest day ever...I had plans originally to set up my slack line in the front yard, but longer so that I could walk something more than 10 steps, but when I pulled into the drive all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep. So I put on a movie and did not set up my slack line. And now I am having to count all the good things I currently have going on right now just to pysch myself up for tomorrow.

1. I can walk my slack line no matter the set-up or the height!

2. I am in the process of buying my first bow! I'll keep you posted on how my Ebay adventure pans out. So far I am the highest bidder.

3. The weekend is coming up and I have many plans.

4. I have a great project in the works that is going to help my creativity when I write.

And now for more relaxation and the rest of my movie.

Slack

I took my slack line to the park tonight and set it up while the boys played and Kat read a book for class. Dan came too and we practiced. I had it set up really loose and wobbly, because I figured if I could walk it on there I could walk it anywhere. And guess what?? I can! It was the coolest feeling, to sway all over the place and still be able to walk it. Then we set it up super-low to the ground so that Dan could get on and try to teach his leg muscles to stabilize. Just get the feel for the rope. And he was doing it! It was so cool. And then I learned that I can walk it low, too! It was a good time. It was such a high. I didn't want to leave. And then we realized it was 7 and the boys were starving.

I can't explain the way it feels to suddenly know you can walk that thing--and to know that I finally have a marketable circus skill! It is the biggest rush. I never wanted to quit. More later, definitely.