This evening I came home to find a note in the mail — a package has arrived, and is waiting at the post office. Unless somebody has decided to surprise me with a package, it will be one of the two things I need for the upcoming fencing season, and ordered this past weekend.

For the past year, for the first time in almost twenty years, I took a break from fencing. Did not touch it at all.

I told myself that I meant to return to practice, but there was always an excuse: First there was the move. Then the new job. Then it was almost Christmas. Then …

Well, there was always another reason. Life is busy, and I like it that way. There is always a vacation and a business trip around the corner. I also like it that way. But the conclusion — that it’s a silly time to come back to fencing — was wrong. There was more to it. I stopped checking tournament schedules and results online, reading forums. I tuned out.

I think I needed it.

Over the summer the desire to fence has returned. I find myself missing it. I have a need to fence again — and it feels good to be refreshed. It feels exciting to return.

For some reason, I expect to feel out of my depth. I expect fencing to have somehow changed. There is no reason for this. I go to fencing.net, and the discussions are the same (sometimes literally), as are the people. One year is not a long time.

There is an unfortunate side effect: the amount of new kit I need is staggering. Rule changes since I last fenced mandate a new mask, but I was prepared for that — I actually delayed replacing the old one on the basis of this rule change. And I have zero functioning foils. That’s right, zero. Also, no wire with which to rewire any foils. This might be the nature of the package lying in wait at the Wapping Post Office. In which case my excitement will likely be replaced by frustration, as I try to get reacquainted with a skill which, it could be argued, I never really had to begin with.

I can’t wait.