Maybe worth noting here that over the past couple of months, as I try to return to full health, I’ve taken up archery. This was Grace’s idea; she found that our local branch of the SCA had a weekly archery practice near us, and we’ve been going since mid-February. It’s been incredible fun.

As I type this, I’ve returned from our weekly shoot. I can feel muscles in my back and shoulder relaxing after heavy use; it’s a good feeling. I’m not normally a very physically active person, in part due to my ongoing illness, and it’s good to have some reason for exertion. But more than that, I’ve found archery’s a great way to focus. The act of drawing of an arrow, aiming, releasing — you concentrate, in the fullest sense of the word. You are brought to the centre. The first time I tried archery I immediately realised why some people use it as a meditative technique.

Archery brings together muscular effort, precision of motor control, and a certain kind of mental stillness. So although it’s draining in terms of pure physical energy, I find it psychically energising. And it helps that I’m new enough to the skill that I’m still improving. I figure it’ll probably bleed over into the story, too; we’ll see how it goes.