submitted by Dennis Lindenbaum
Writing from beautiful Quepos, Costa Rica, the 63rd annual Canopy 3200 was completed this weekend to the overwhelming enjoyment of all the participants. This is always a well-run affair and steeped in historical tradition. As with the previous 62 annual matches, this one was held under sunny skies and 85-88 degree F temperatures with wafting breezes from the north each day. Since this is summer in Costa Rica, it is dry with low humidity. Under the shade of the canopy, it couldn’t have been more comfortable.
The number of competitors this year was lower than typical and everyone was blaming the economy and the skyrocketing cost of Eley. Import duty taxes charged at Juan’s Garage (the only local ammo supplier) adds further costs. Competing this year were four howler monkeys, two three-toed sloths, a half dozen juniors under the age of ten, and myself. However, they all have earned their Master classification and brought their A-game as usual making the competition very tough.
You should have heard those monkeys scream when I brought out my scope for Scope Day. Evidently, everyone shoots irons all the time down here. Everyone started calling me a “Panamanian” which apparently is a pretty derisive term down here. The matches are run pretty efficiently, but those damn sloths seem like they take forever just to hang a new target after each string. Those sloths are incredible, though, when it comes to waiting for a condition. I have never seen more patience.
It is customary to down a cold Corona after each card during the delay while the sloths are taking their time. This was something that I really hadn’t trained for. I try to avoid making excuses for my poor shooting, but a 238 with no X’s on the final 100 meter match of the day ruined any chance for a decent placing in the overall aggregate. They shoot the 100 meter match last each day and it is an all metric event. Since this wasn’t in the original match program, I questioned the match director (his name is Hap) about this, he just looked at me and said, “Todos metricos todos al tiempo”. One of the monkeys overheard this conversation and screamed, “The center is still the center!”. Turns out they just scream all the time and they were a great bunch of guys to shoot with.
Some guy named Bob was the match winner (never got his last name) and I have enclosed a photo of him at the award ceremony. Tried to get a group photo, but couldn’t get everyone to sit still long enough. Although I didn’t do my best, I’ll definitely be back next year.
Pura Vida – Senor Dennis on the road to Perry
I forgot to mention one thing. As you can see from the photo, the monkeys have a very low position in prone and really don’t meet the 30 degree rule. I was afraid to point this out to anyone.
¡Llegó el médico racional de la filosofía Lindenbaum!