In order for Lilith to get her certification in basic range safety, we had to get our asses up at the crack of dawn to get her down to the range. Lil, Teddy, Brian, and I all went through the lessons together. Lilith was doing great, but by the end she was really feeling the echo of our pre-dawn alarm. After the class ended, there was a fun little contest to see who could pop balloons with their arrows on the first try. Lilith was resistant; she was tired, kinda /done/ with everything, and just wanted to turn in her equipment and watch us. We all pushed her to at least give it a try – You have your equipment on anyway! Just do it! It’s fun! Well, she did. She whipped out one arrow, and casually nailed a balloon perfectly with one shot.

A perfume of Southern California winter: white sage, lavender buds, sugarbush, squished toyon berries, mugwort, wild rose, black walnut bark, and crunchy oak leaves drifting on a morning breeze.