It was a sweet adventure. It started out at Bill Jackson's in Clearwater, Fl. My wife Penny and my daughter Ashley, joined me on a trip there so I could roam through all of the outdoor departments and dream a little. (you can google em and if you have never been then you should go).
Our first stop was the pistol department where my wife saw a crossbow hanging from the rafters and her heart was slain. With a big smile on her face she exclaimed "THAT WOULD BE FUN!" Hmmm I thought, guns were expensive enough without adding those darn things to the mix.
Two weeks later I took my daughter to a movie and after the movie decided to visit Dicks Sporting Goods for an ammo box. My safe was full. While looking over the ammo boxes, Ashley wandered off and then shortly after came tugging on my arm to come and look at something. She sure was excited. Kind of reminded me of the look in my wife's eyes when she saw that crossbow. In the back of the sporting goods department was an archery range and with a gleam in her eyes (just like my wife's) she asked if we could shoot. It turns out that Dicks only uses their range for tuning bows and such.
As I could not get any of my daughters to shoot a pistol at the range it got me to thinking that this archery thing may be just what the doctor ordered for my loved ones and I.
I have 3 girls and all the boys that have walked through the front door have enjoyed checking out my cool gun collection if you catch my drift. :-)
As I explored I found a thing called primitive archery. The more I read the more intrigued I became. I soon subscribed to PA magazine and the journey was on.
Poorfolks Bows took me to Home Depot where I found a pretty darn good straight grained red oak board. 3 months went by (long time I know) and I was just about finished with my first bow.
I had decided it was time to develop some friendships in this traditional and primitive bow thing so I googled some Florida archery organizations and found the TBOF (Traditional Bowhunters Of Florida) organization. You may have read a post from me several weeks ago titled Traditional Friendships. I sent an email to the President of the TBOF that mirrored my post. The President forwarded my email to the membership and my inbox overflowed with wish you wells, give me a call and just some darn friendly people wanting nothing more than to make a noob feel at home in this wonderful way of life.
Well... Just a couple of weeks ago the better half and I went to the TBOF fall shoot in Ocala, Fl.
I met some great people and a hardy and heart felt thank you goes out to them all for making my wife and I feel like we belonged and convinced us that we did.
While there we wandered into Big Jim's Bow Company tent. What an eye candy feast we had. Penny, knowing how my heart was beating a song of fellowship for this new found melody of stick, string, and arrow, talked me into buying one of Big Jim's Bows. She really had to twist my arm don't ya know.
The next day I was shooting my Big Jim Buffalo in the back yard. Thank you Big Jim for the beautiful bow. It's a real sweet shooter and everyone that sees it starts to drool in a split second.
Long story short... I Love It.
Oh yeah, the broken bow.
Tonight I finished the knocks and spun my own Flemish string and then strung her up. She was so pretty with her first attempt blemishes, her ugly black linen fabric backing and the two limbs that seemed tillerd to perfection (at least in my eyes). One limb was a little narrower than the other. She had her first smooth 100 grit sanding and the glued on rock cedar riser and knocks that came from a piece of wood off the bottom of the crystal river. That bow looked beautiful to me.
I worked her a bunch in the kitchen and got her out to my 28" draw. My wife and the girls had to have a pull or two. I was so excited because tomorrow after work I was headed to one of my new friends house to shoot some 3d's and I just knew that James would think she was as beautiful as my whole family did. James makes his own arrows and is a real craftsman from what I've seen but he has never thought about building his own bow. I knew this would convince him and then I would have a friend close by to share the joy of the build and the creation.
Time to see the final weight I thought as I headed to the tillering tree in the garage with my scale in hand.
Up on the tree she went and as I pulled her out to the 28" I heard a faint, high pitched popping sound and then a bang! Startled, I looked down and there she lay at my feet in two pieces. I heard in my mind the ancient of days singing a song about the love of true lore, the craftsman's hands and the beauty of a bow that was brought to life by the love of a father. Now I'm not comparing myself to our creator because there is only one and he is alive and well and sits on the throne where angels cry out day and night holy, holy, holy in worship of the one true God.
After all of that what can a man say? Well I'll tell ya.
I love that bow that I just strung up. The bow that my family was just as excited to see and thought she was as beautiful as I did.
I wouldn't trade my first bow for a million bucks. I built her and she taught me a lot. She taught me that there is joy in the work of the hands. That the joy obtained from such a pure endeavor is priceless. She taught me that there is joy in brokenness. You know, when something from the heart is broke often times healing can take place and with healing comes a renewed energy and a freshness of life. She's just what this ole boy needed and I'll show her off with pride in my eyes and a joy in my heart. James is going to get to see her tomorrow night and I'm glad because she means allot to me and I will treasure her for as long as I live.
