Rest day, and a visit to Jon and Mary Jane’s beautiful home
Last night I went to bed with the intention of shooting today, as it would give me another opportunity to post a field round score. However, all things considered, I shot a very good score on Wednesday, and I felt I could benefit more by resting. The real event is the unwavering five days of the World Field Archery Championship; and I was the only Aussie crazy enough to try both the USA National’s and the WFAC.
I believe I made a wise choice, as I had the time to visit the home of Jon and Mary-Jane; a lovely couple of wonderful human beings I had the fortune of befriending iin 2012 while in Argentina. Both are skilled artisans, and their passion for life iis evident in their smiles and their joyful way. I ventured out to visit them around mid afternoon, and on the way out of my motel, I crossed paths with Bea and Jolleen (the Namibian archers), so they jumped in the car and we crossed the interstate bridge into Nebraska.
A short drive along incredibly picturesque Missouri riverside brought us to the waterfront home of Jon and Mary Jane. It didn’t take Jon long to sequester us into his den of creation, and he treated us to wonder after wonder. I had an inkling that Jon liked to work with his hands, but nothing prepared me for the plethora of items he had deftly crafted. Obsidian knives, flint arrowheads all knapped to a fine edge. Beadwork, bows, arrows and blowdarts! Colonial uniforms, muskets, and other treasures accrued or created through a lifetime were carefully described and presented to us. Bea, Jolleen and I were astounded, and dumbfounded by his skill.
An example of the esoteric items is this Indian love flute, something that until today I did not know could exist:
Jon is a native American, and as someone relatively uneducated in native American history, he was very helpful in describing cultural and social traditions. He brought out a beautiful Indian headdress; and popped it on Jolleen’s head and went on to describe the significance of the feathers, and the status of a warrior that might wear a headdress of this type:
Here are a couple of photographs of the knives and stone knapping work that Jon has done. Mary Jane is a wood carver and a painter, and I hope to see some more of her work when I visit in again in a few days time:
Obsidian and flint knives and arrowhead.
Jon is a master craftsman, these tools are immaculately made.
Here is a picture of Mary Jane and I. While Jon was touring us through his workshop and gear; she had been covertly cooking us a dinner! We shared a meal with them and we hope to be back there in a few days to swim and see the other half of Jon’s collection!
Mary Jane and I
Of course, no post would be complete without a bit of fooling around on my part, so here are a few minutes of silliness that occurred while I was overwhelmed with the breadth of Jon’s collection of exotic Indian weapons! Who could resist shooting blow darts across the garden, and throwing (unsuccessfully) a bunch of axes!!! PS> I did actually a lot better with the throwing knives, but this wasn’t captured on camera!!
Canoeing the Wisconsin River!
We headed out early on Saturday morning to catch up with Ty (Dan’s cousin) who is in the 17th year of the organizing a canoe trip down the Wisconsin river.
After an hour or so we got to the launching point, and put in with a few other people from the group. I captured a bit of video as we meandered down the river. The Wisconsin isn’t the largest river in the USA, but I think it would dwarf the Murray in Australia. It feeds directly into the largest river in America, the Mississippi. It is possible to canoe the river system for hundreds (perhaps thousands) of kilometers, and by the amount of people we saw in canoes, it’s a very popular activity for north American people.
After a few hours of paddling we made it to the island – essentially a large sand-bar in the middle of the Wisconsin river, where everyone was pitching tents and enjoying a few beverages. Ty had organised ‘Beer Olympics’ . . . a set of activities that involved frisbee, ping-pong, and bag throwing kinds of drinking games. My days of excess drinking are behind me, so I was perhaps a little more ‘with it’ than many of my competitors . . . which gave me an advantage in the games!! Tim and Dan and Ashley (another of Dan’s cousins) were on my team, and we did really well in all events.
I estimate around 50+ people made this trip, and I commended Ty for his great work organizing it. It was a really memorable experience, and a lot of fun. Here’s a picture of Dan and Ty:
Here is a panoramic photograph to show the beauty of the place:
During the evening we got together around a huge bonfire, chatted and played around with glowsticks! Some of the folks had bought large packets of these things, and the silliness that transpired will forever be known as the ‘Great Glowstick War of 2014’ . (Because they looked great against the night sky, people were throwing them around at each other for hours and hours . . . like hand-missile lasers, you know? Many of Ty’s friends were military, so you know – things that look like lasers and all the military folks = Great Glowstick War!!!).
Here’s a panoramic of the scene. I’m sitting to the left.
Everyone slept in a little the day following . . . I think many would be suffering hangovers! Still, the island was cleaned up and we made our way along the river for another couple of miles to the landing point. What an awesome experience!!
A great thank you to Dan for inviting me along and welcoming me to his friends. It’s a great way to travel, when you can hang out with local people and share time with them. I had not seen Dan for 16 years, we worked together on a summer camp in Wisconsin in the summer of ’98. He’s a great fella and it will be good to one day return the favor and show him around my home country, Australia.
To the USA!
Frantically packing . . . leaving everything to the last minute, as usual. I depart Melbourne airport for LAX on Tuesday 22nd July @ 11am. Direct flight to LA, then a connection to Minneapolis. From there I meet up with my old friend Dan Krumenauer. I’m spending around a week with him in the small town of Viroqua, Wisconsin. Adventures should ensue!
Come the 29th July, I will head to Yankton, South Dakota to compete in the 2014 IFAA World Field Archery Championships. This will be my second overseas trip dedicated to my love for archery and the worldwide fellowship of archers. The last adventure was to Argentina, where I made new friends and learnt much about the discipline.
I’ll be shooting my new bow; a Stolid Bull ‘Black Thunder’ riser, with speedy Border HEX6 limbs.
ToriMish.com 