After seven or so years of living back in Prince George, I thought that I had tried most of the rugged northern activities.Not so!
I recently have had the pleasure of throwing knives and it was unexpectedly fun.I am not a hunter or a gun sort of person.I do eat meat but prefer not to think about the fact that the animals were once walking around. I like my meat wrapped in plastic and available on cheap chicken day at the grocery store.
I mostly think that guns are, at best, a silly hobby that I don't understand and, at worst, a dangerous one. I have never shot a gun, even at a target.This isn't to prove my moral high ground of the anti-gun people over people who enjoy hunting and the collecting of odd weapons of killing. I am merely trying to frame my background in outdoorsy, gun-type things in order to provide some context to my first foyer into throwing weapons. I loved it.
The setting was beautiful and pastoral.There was a beautiful little sitting area (which was completely unusable because, you know, mosquitoes) and the grass was lush and a vibrant green. I was (stupidly) wearing sandals - not unlike Birkenstocks - and though I was not wearing socks with my sandals, I wish I was.My ankles are a lovely puffy shade of pink and itchy like a baby in summer wearing a wool sweater. At the time, that didn't matter.Now, the calamine lotion is on and I have (probably) taken the correct dosage of Benadryl.
I will set the scene: a bunch of people, sitting around on a warm Prince George summer evening.The tangy scent of Hart Highway perfume was in the air (i.e. bug dope) and the air was filled with the soft, buzzing whine of mosquitoes and election political commentary.
After a failed attempt at levity as I expressed my delight at the Greens having the balance of power in the legislature, I pivoted and asked my uncle to show me how to throw knifes.
Prominently displayed in the backyard was the throwing knife Temple of Doom contraption: two wooden targets made out of actual tree slices built on an ingenious scaffold of two-by-fours and assorted wooden pieces.
I spent approximately three seconds listening to the instructions on how to hold the knife, the proper throwing technique and firm snapping throw (but no wrist!) into the target. Not bothering to pay close attention to the instructions, I proceeded to throw my six knives into the target, hitting the wood every single time. Because I'm that good, right?
What actually happened is that I intended to throw a few sets and I was fully expecting to sink the knife into the wooden target maybe two or three times out of six throws. I finally managed to sink two of my targets 96 throws later after pinging the remaining ninety-four throws handle-side to the target, around the target, over the target and under.
I really didn't want to be standing on the edge of the forest being eaten by bugs inexpertly whipping knives at a wooden platform. But I was not going to stop until I got at least one knife sunk into the wood.Once that happened, I went inside and pretended that it wasn't my idea.
The moral of the story is when setting up a wooden target to throw knives at (as we do up here in the frozen hinterland), don't set up the target towards the setting sun (Uncle Rod). Also, don't wear sandals.
