Cody & the New Bow

One of the advantages of being in a large city is specialty shops like Hit or Miss Archery. 

I'd decided to get a new bow and had had a good experience last time at Hit or Miss. I went down yesterday to order a string for one I found on eBay and Cody, from Tohajiliilee, had pointed out how the limbs are warped. When I asked how he thought it'd affect its performance he said, "Not much." so I ordered the string.

Back home I noticed the limbs were loose even when the bolts that hold them in place were tight After looking more closely at the twisted limbs I decided it just wasn't gonna do. When I called to cancel the order for the string, Cody told of a small bow -- I'd said I like small - he could show me. Today I went back.

It was a 16# (draw) with a riser (the part the limbs attach to) that weighed nothing. He put a string on it and brought me three arrows, helped me clear the stage (the area around me) and put the target ten feet in front of me. There were others on the range and he was being careful. After the first set I asked him if we could move it. He asked where. I went to 20'.

My first shot caromed off the edge of the three-foot-wide target and disappeared into the depths of the range. I turned to him and said, "See what you made me do!" My other two were pretty good.

We had to wait for the "all clear" but by then I'd decided to take the bow. I asked him to make me 3 arrows. He was gone about ten minutes.

I put the three in a tight, respectable group that silenced the tittering of the two girls and put some respect into the demeanors of the good ole boys watching.

I turned to Cody and quietly said, "I'm really glad you were here today." It was his 7th anniversary of the job.

At the register he noted the name of the bow is Monarch and the arrows are Warriors. He said, "Sounds mythical...as if you're going on a journey." I asked if he knew the meaning of life (my fav question for instances like this). He said he wakes up each morning, thinks about his two children and his wife...and happiness. "It's about happiness," he said.

We shook hands - gently - the Navajo way, and I, I went on my Moose way home.