We signed up for "Virtual VBS" through Nana and Pop's church this year.
It's just not the same.
I sat with Shane to do some of it. He's so social and just "sitting and getting" isn't really his style.
I was hoping to take Shane and work at the VBS at the Baptist church we went to a couple of years ago. Shane had to go to Nana and Pop's church last summer when he stayed with them and we moved into the new house. The pandemic put the pause on those plans this year.
It was a bummer, but at least there was something. A low bar this year should make next year more fun and meaningful.
A guy on Youtube wanted to see how much he could improve with a bow in 30 days. He discussed his method (I like experiments!), showed his data (I like data!), and got better (I like learning!).
So I decided to do something similar. I like having projects and goals.
I planned to chronicle it here.
Basic safety: Loki had to stay in the house. Sorry, bud.
Goals: Do something physical and improve my shot. Keep boredom at bay.
Scoring: I decided hitting the target was worth 1 point. Each ring in the center was worth an additional point until reaching the bullseye (with a maximum value of 5 points).
I wanted to shoot 100 shots for easy percentages, but the total daily shots became 88. I had 22 arrows (sadly not all of the same make) and fired them all off in four sets. I'd have fired more, but I got injured (discussed later).
Equipment: I started with one bow, but it broke maybe halfway through the first set!
I had to grab our other bow. Far from ideal circumstances for gathering baseline data.
I have 22 arrows. Unfortunately, they're not all identical nor the highest quality. 16 are wood (and some have dubious fletching). 6 are an alloy and feel much lighter. Personnel: Shane offered to "help" in the beginning. He lasted for the first 22 shots and then went inside for the AC!
Setup: I drew a line two posts north of the gate (Which Shane drew over and I couldn't find it later).
I set the target two posts south of the gate. Later, I measured the distance at about 35 feet.
Ideally, I could've set the target up on something off the ground. I wanted it to be on something firm, so it wouldn't knock the target over and require constant fixing. The sun and the son sapped my brain power and I couldn't think of anything at the time. I threw up a few blocks behind the target to keep it in place.
Data:
1st set - I scored 12 points on the first set (9 x 1 pt each and 1 x 3 pts). I almost had to count from the picture.
I couldn't find the right page in the right notebook at first. I did find plenty of Shane's drawings.
Being on the ground may have skewed my results upward. I had a few shots that I think skittered off the ground into the target. I had one total submarine I didn't count (and I'd have more in future sets).
2nd set - I scored 15 pts (9 x 1 pt, 1 x 2 pts, and 1 x 4 pts).
3rd set - I scored 19 points, my high of the day (14 x 1 pt, 1 x 2 pts, and 1 x 3 pts).
I noticed my finger hurt on the 3rd set. A blister had formed and ripped open. I didn't want to quit with only 66 shots of data, so I opted to use my bottom three fingers for my release on the 4th set.
4th set - I rushed this set. It was hot and my finger hurt. I only scored 9 points (9 x 1 pt each).
Starting data:
Thoughts:
I'm not a good shot. Which is why I'm doing this.
I may need a better bow. The first one broke. It feels like the shots all arc left and that the draw strength and length aren't optimal. It could be me, though. I'm trying to work on having good form, but I'm certainly not a veteran.
I need to develop calluses or protect my hand. I took some time off to let my finger heal and decided to go back with gloves until my skin thickens a little.
Carrie had a great idea. "Why not wait for the shade?" It turned out a better idea in theory than in practice, though. Several nights, Micayla came to ride Abby and/or Carrie rode, as well. I couldn't shoot around horses. On other nights, the arena was free by the time there was shade, but I was tired, busy, or forgot.
I'm not going to be able to do this level of a write-up every time. I need to set a consistent time and procedure to get good data and hopefully see the best improvement. I'd like to consistently score at least 100 points. The 1 pt area is much larger than all the others, so 88 pts would mean I'm hitting the target reliably. If I could score near 196 pts that would mean I'm hitting the target circle reliably.
The animals help, but Shane needs time around other kids.
So it was great that we got to see Henry Tuesday morning! The boys went swimming.
Henry has been working with his dad in Maryland, surfing, and generally unavailable. When the opportunity to play popped up we accepted!
The boys went to the pool first thing. They played a ton with the hose. Henry made "a tank" and Shane looked for chinks in its armor.
The hose became a problem. Henry kept spraying Shane and Shane got annoyed. Only it wasn't really clear he was annoyed. There were times I thought he was getting pushed too far, but then he'd laugh and play in a way Molly and I thought things were fine. I coached Shane to grab the hose itself, but he kept swimming after Henry like it was a game until he got up and left.
The pool quieted down once Shane stomped off. Henry hung around for a bit until I eventually asked, "You think Shane's in the tree fort?"
The last time Shane stormed off, Henry followed him and they worked it out on their own. I would have loved a repeat, but Henry came back without seeing Shane. Enough time had passed without resolution, I figured it was time to step in.
I found Shane up a tree. Really, he signaled where he was. He wanted to be found (and told he was a good hider and a good climber!).
We only reflected for a minute or two before Henry found us. I told Shane Molly and I hadn't realized he was mad, because he kept laughing and swimming after Henry instead of the hose. We talked a little and Shane wanted a personal apology from Henry. I suggested this might be a time Shane needed to extend some grace.
It would've been nice if there were a couple more minutes to process, but Henry came around and started to show the zip line on the tree!
I played bridge. Henry asked, "How'd you get up there?" I said, "Shane's a great climber!"
The conversation developed from there and both boys left happier. I don't know if Henry asked that question to offer an olive branch or not (If so, great job!).
We ended up in the house about an hour after our pool (mis)adventure. I played tech support and helped set up Henry to play Minecraft online with Shane.
Our visit was cut short. Carrie called upset. Chilly's owner had messaged her that he was in dire straights. We went home for support. I played more tech support and helped Shane and Henry connect for their first online Minecraft game!
Shane tried to help, but Henry seemed to prefer to hear answers from me. Shane had some of the right answers, but he doesn't know how to communicate things so that people listen and understand yet.
Henry knows far more about physical tools than Shane, but Shane seems to understand the virtual ones better.
Not that Henry knows much more about communicating. They've played for several days since. My phone gets commandeered so they don't have to type and It's clear the boys have a lot in common with their social skills. It can be quite frustrating to listen to!
Henry will say the same thing over and over again until he gets a response. Shane might just sit there the first three or four times like he never heard it before he launches on a tangent and Henry repeats himself again!
The other day, Shane kept telling Henry to "Stop following him!" Shane wanted to make something for him in secret and Henry didn't want to go along with the plan. They boys argued back and forth and it got to a"Maybe I should go" and "Maybe you should" place.....before it settled into quiet and then went on like nothing happened!
Another time they were arguing and I liked that Shane was using "I statements." Carrie and I were playing cards and our eyes nearly bugged out of our heads when Shane said something like, "...and I feel like you're the devil and being evil when..." WHAT!?!?
Yet the argument settled into normal talk a little bit later. It's hard to listen to. It makes you want to intervene! I did bring up what I thought was extreme later, but I kept Carrie from intervening at the time. I figured if it got bad enough, I'd just turn off the internet as a natural consequence.
Kids need to be able to push each other, make mistakes, self-correct, and reflect. It doesn't make it easy to listen to. A kid who's never had the opportunity to push another kid to get mad at them is a kid who's probably never learned how to consider someone's else feelings and how to apologize. A kid who's never been pushed is a kid who hasn't had a chance to learn how to speak up for themselves and how to forgive. The give, take, step and misstep teaches how to set and respect healthy boundaries.
Or at least I hope it does! It worked for me. Getting into trouble taught me how to get out of it and eventually avoid what I could.
Experience is a seasoning. A lesson isn't finished until it's been learned, used, and internalized.
But that's enough of my own tangent from "We got to swim in Henry's pool and then the boy's played Minecraft together!"
Who is that mule getting off of it? Carrie? What did you do?
Meet Pockets. He's the mule peeing in our end stall.
Pockets comes to us from Louisiana. He's Carrie's "Been-there-seen-that-Husband-mule."
He'd been 'surfing' on a horse trailer for the past two days and was happy to move around.
Carrie likes her surprises.
I was surprised.
Carrie had "all but given up" on finding a mule that was at least 15 hands when Pockets showed up on her radar. "It was the perfect opportunity" and she pulled the trigger.
Pockets was a family mule. Carrie showed me the family used him in a gender reveal (A belated congrats on the baby boy, Francois!). His 'dad' put him up for sale (as the one he "didn't want to sell"), because of the pandemic. He worked oil rigs.
He seemed super friendly. One thing did stick out: His left eye.
Pockets had an accident when he was a baby. He ran into a stick and he's permanently blind on the left. It doesn't seem to bother him. I would've thought he'd bring his head around more to keep his eye on things, but he seemed laid back enough.
Which was the opposite of how the other horses felt. Especially the geldings.
Magic lost it when he realized what we had stalled.
Huck was curious at first, but followed Magic's lead. He kept at it, too.
1111
Ironically, we just watched the movie Gus.
It was slapstick fun. I picked it because I knew Carrie wanted a mule and old movies are good for kids.
Shane was bouncing on the couch and laughing then. Now, he was laughing and saying, "We have our own Gus!"
I'm still amazed he knew and didn't let something slip. Carrie told him two days ago. When I asked, he said he "made himself forget, because he didn't want to lose Minecraft."
We talked to the driver for a while. He talked to us about the horse transportation biz. In a little over a year, he'd put 258,000 miles on his truck and trailer. He said that he'd spend two weeks on the road and then 2 or 3 nights back home. His wife was the logistics brain and would schedule deals and rout him here and there while he slept in the truck each night.
He had one other horse in the back he was taking up to Massachusetts. I haven't seen many horses with blue eyes.
So I was hoodwinked. It made sense why she wanted to stay home while we dropped off the skunk now. I'd known Carrie was leaning heavily towards a mule to replace Sam, too, but I thought she'd have waited until the sale was finalized!
I didn't expect it to be on a social night, either. Barn people were coming over for dinner and chores. We had to clean up and Shane had to water the garden before they arrived.
Ellie, Landie, and Alex showed up. Ellie brought corn and put the kids to shucking.
Carrie cooked burgers and Loki supervised whoever he could! Alex and Carrie had a competition for who could stack the biggest burger and still eat it (Grilled pineapple, giant mushroom caps, bean sprouts, lettuce...).
Shane showed Landie the hose after they were done eating. You know how that's going to end!
No one was surprised when she came back on the porch dripping wet. Loki volunteered to supervise further play.
Don't be surprised that he ended up dripping wet either!
I didn't get a heads up Carrie let Pockets out into the back lot. I arrived just in time to see his inaugural roll.
The boys freaked out from a distance. They clung together for protection.
Magic was the worst of the lot. Ellie had warned us that he had a thing against long ears.
The mares were more curious.
Espeically Abby and Maddy.
Pippin was not happy. She shooed her girls away and made sure they maintained proper social distance!
Maddy tried to sneak back a couple of times, but Pippin wouldn't' have it!
It doesn't stay dull around here if you like animals.
Or hoses. Shane could only come so close to the barn with both attached!
Landie was soaked, so Shane grabbed one of his shirts for her to use a dress. They spent the last part of the night curled up watching Loony Toons.
The next morning there was horse drama. Pockets? He was fine. So were the mares.
The boys however....
Magic refused to let any of the boys come up for breakfast. He kept herding the off to the far corner of the pasture.
Carrie had to go out and bring them in one by one.
Eddie was the first, because he had a muzzle on she could grab. Magic kept crowding her and trying to herd him away.
Ernie was next, but his fly mask wasn't enough to hold on to. I had to fetch his halter and it took a couple of tries.
Huck came next. He spun around Carrie even with a rope halter on. She knew what to do and after a while he was penned.
That left the ringleader of the paranoia: Magic.
Carrie got him stalled, but he was a nervous mess. He twitched. Constantly.
Ellie texted to ask if "her horse was still alive!"
"Mike says you have a racist horse."
We don't know what happened in Magic's life, but he seemed to think the large ears were horns and that Pockets was going to eat him.
We needed to break down some barriers.
So Carrie stalled Pockets right next to Magic.
Magic continued to freak out. He twirled and we closed the curtain door before he got the idea to jump out.
Maddy was turned free and Eddie went into her stall to make room for Pockets. Eddie looked back for all of a second to check on his bro before he realized he was in mare territory. He promptly forgot all about the mule and tried to introduce himself to Abby next door.
Meanwhile, Carrie handed out treats whenever Pockets and Magic came to the stall wall together. She wanted Magic to associate a 'better flavor' with his new buddy.
Pockets was perfectly happy with the arrangement. He never had any trouble with horses to begin with!
And so begins our Mule adventure.
I texted Patrick to let him know what happened after we left his place. He thought Pockets was a horse.
"Nope, he's a mule."
"I should have seen he's very donkey in the face!"
I'm sure I'll have more pictures soon. Carrie will probably give Pockets some time to adjust, but he's going to need a test drive to see what he knows.
