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My (Archery) Knapsack on My Back

10/14/2014

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I think this was the best Oktoberfest I've ever had.  We had a zippy Bogenschuetzenfest and one of our T-dot archery pals brought out his family.  Then we saw a kajillion varieties of apples and plums at St. Jacobs Market.  Then we had a fun night of dancing in a hockey arena.  Then the next morning, I shot so much better than before in the Running Boar competition (it's made of foam!), I took the 1st in the women's category.  

I don't know if you've also noticed a lot more Oktoberfest schtick in Toronto this year but to me, you gotta make a weekend of it in Kitchener-Waterloo, where the folks are really truly German.  I muse that the German culture is fascinatingly outdoorsy and sport-oriented.  I hearken to an issue of Toronto's own Worn fashion journal that had a wicked piece on the woollen coat (picture Captain Von Trapp) that goes with the lederhosen for the dudes;  all of that is an outfit for hiking and being comfy in the elements.  Things are all decorated with stags and eagles and flowers.  When I think about it, the awesome, awesome folk dances are super-physical, too: slapping, flipping, whirling, kicking, bull-whipping, more slapping.  Folk sport seems to really be a thing, and contests of skill and strength are clearly a hallmark of folksy festivals like this one.

Anyway, I feel like we're *really* doing Oktoberfest because we're playing the games.  You can do pumpkin trebuchets or softball or barrel-rolling, but the two archery contests are definitely our thing AND the Bogenschuetzenfest competition is the longest-running cultural activity at this festival.  45 years, I think they said.  Squinting into the sun, going from dewy, soaked grass and chill to sunburnt afternoon, slurping apple cider in a camping chair surrounded by turned leaves, and totally torn by socializing and the intense contest, I'm pretty sure this is the feeling that really nails Oktoberfest for me.

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    Tara Vaughan lives with Rob Cruise and their pooches, Artemis and Louis in the East end of Toronto.  They sort of dabbled in archery for a long time but actually got equipment a couple of years ago.  Tara's loving it and Toronto and - Hey, look!  She has a blog about them.

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