Archery

 

My Dad used to take us to Babe's on Rice Street to shoot arrows at bales of hay. I enjoyed it. Tonight I volunteered to help at an indoor range in Rice Lake. I got there at 5 for the orientation. Children arrived at 5:30. I worked with a guy who was my height and he had Autism. He was fun. He had been to archery classes before so he knew the drill. Then I worked with a slightly older tall thin high schooler who also had Autism. Plus he forgot his glasses. He was very quiet but a good listener and he remembered instructions very well. A lady next to me shot an arrow and it glanced off her other arrow and turned left and stuck into a package. She can shoot arrows around corners? The last guy I had was a middle aged man with Down Syndrome. He had his own compound bow. His personal care attendant was there and this guy kept trying to blame all the troubles on his personal care attendant. The attendant told me that he has taken this guy out in the community before and the guy is mostly bored. But put a bow in his hands and he comes alive. Most of the volunteers are guys. Six guys volunteered and three women. The youngest woman was the best shot. One fellow told me her bow probably cost twenty thousand dollars. She had competed nationally and internationally. I suppose I could join an archery league. Some fellows who were not part of our group had arrows with lights on the ends. I had never seen that before. One fellow had cerebral palsy. He had one of those really heavy electric wheelchairs that also allows him to stand. A fellow volunteer helped him pull back on the compound bow and release the arrow. The look of joy on his face when he got the bullseye was priceless. I left the archery range at about 8:30 and enjoyed the shades of lavender in the setting sun..