What Are They Building In There?

Strange things are afoot in my backyard. The sounds of construction fill the air. Hammers and circular saws produce their characteristic songs, punctuated by whispered commentary about how hot it is, and occasional imprecations that, in essence, direct some unknown individual to engage in intimate congress with a wild man.

These were scenes that took place yesterday, as I was building "the target backstop the likes of which even the gods have not seen."

It occurred to me that, although my cobbled-together backstop had served adequately in the past, it was wise and prudent to create something more permanent. Not just permanent, but, ahem, monolithic.

And I did, with the help of my trusty comrade, Bob. The only difficulty was that, when fully built, said backstop was so heavy that it was nearly impossible to move into place. I had enticed my friend, Chris, to come over, and took the opportunity to prevail upon him to give me a hand with the heavy lifting.

The new backstop is 6'4" by 6', and is strong enough to stop, I'm confident enough to venture, any arrow shot from any bow in existence. I like it.

Now, I just have to get my bows back in order...but that's going to be the subject for another entry.

I finally "finished" work on my now-huge "All These Violent Heirlooms" story. I've put the last bit out for critique, though I suspect that I'll have to write something of a postscript. We shall see. At least I know what the critique will be, if it proves necessary.

Work continues on my other two most current stories, "Be it Dead or Alive" and "Hunting Season Again". Both are reaching impressive word counts, and both await their big climactic scenes, which I hope I'm capable of providing.

After feeling under the weather most of last week, I am more or less back to being myself again. I don't know exactly what it was, but there were issues with my belly and parts south. For the sake of decorum, I'll say no more.

In bending news, I finally was able to hunt down some new flexible PVC pipe on Saturday, which will allow me to get back into the regime with more facility. Just to test them out, I bent a few Iron Mind Blue Nails yesterday. After hours of actual physical work, I found them slightly more difficult than normal, but they fell prey to my onslaught.

Next time, I'll probably have more to tell you about the archery thing, as well as my further adventures with writing, bending, and whatever new hobby I'll have cottoned on to by then.

May your pen be quick, your grip mighty, and your bull's eye crowded with arrows.