Priceless

Here is my version of the old Mastercard ads we all used to see on television.

House on 8 acres in the country – $319K

High tech Garrett metal detector – $569

Bear Legit compound bow – $459

Finding the $6 arrow you lost in the grass – Priceless

I said in a blog post last week that even though I was really into archery when I was younger, I hadn’t shot a bow in over 30 years before Terry bought me one for my birthday. And I’m definitely finding that both the technology has changed tremendously and my abilities have gone to hell. Even at 20 yards, I am missing the target a lot more than I am hitting it.

On my first attempt, I think I shot a dozen or more arrows before I ever got one into the bottom left edge of the target. In the process I managed to lose several arrows in the grass in our pasture. Even though the grass definitely needs mowed, Terry and I were able to find all of them except one. It was late in the afternoon and by then the light was fading, so the next day I went out with my metal detector and was able to find the arrow because of the metal field tip on the end.

After writing another chapter in my new John Lee Quarrels book yesterday, I took the advice our son Travis gave me and moved my archery practice over behind the barn in the same area where the shooting backstop is. The grass is much shorter there because of being mowed while we were building the backstop and from being beaten down by the tractor. I still missed quite a bit starting out, but the arrows were easier to find. A big help to me was the fact that Alli figured out what I was doing and started finding the arrows for me when they buried themselves under the grass. How cool is that?

I’m happy to say that by the time I was done shooting fore the day, I had figured out that by aiming high and to the right, I was able to get the arrows consistently into the target. Nowhere near the bullseye, and not grouped very well, but at least I knew where they were. Now I just have to figure out how to adjust the bow’s sights to bring things in to where they need to be.

And what do you do when you have a German shepherd that retrieves arrows for you? You reward her, of course. While our friends Jennifer and Jesse were here visiting a while back, Jennifer told me that they have dog ice cream for sale at Publix. And sure enough, they do. I think it’s actually frozen yogurt blended for dogs, and Alli sure loves it. You keep finding those arrows, girl, and I’ll keep supplying you with treats. 😊

Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an RV camping journal donated by Barbara House. Barbara makes several variations of these, and they all have pages where you can list the date, weather, where you traveled to and from that day, beginning and ending mileage, campground information including amenities at RV sites, a place for campground reviews, room to record activities, people met along the way, reminders of places to see and things to do the next time you’re in the area, and a page for notes for each day.

To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed. After 90 days, unclaimed prizes revert back to the drawing pool for a future contest.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.