Sticky Situation

Last weekend, Grandboy and I took a road trip to the mountains of North Carolina for our annual parish retreat at Kanuga. His dad had to work and his mama was under the weather, so we loaded up the minivan and headed for the hills - just the two of us. I was somewhat trepidatious. I'd had him all to myself several times for long lengths of time but always at his own house. I wasn't sure how he'd take being in a different place with no parental units nearby.

No problems. First of all, several of his little friends were in the cabin next to ours. Second, he had full run of the place - his first taste of independence. And third, well, he's just a roll-with-it kind of kid.

There was lots to do - playgrounds and dances and hills to roll down and places to hide. But by far the favorite activity was, er, "sticking." Sticking is finding endless things to do with short or long, big or tiny tree branches that have fallen to the ground. (Yeah, I just made up the activity called "sticking.")

While glow sticks and balsa airplanes were fun for a while, the brown, wooden limbs provided free by Mother Nature were far and away the favorite amusement-provider of the weekend. I shouldn't be surprised. It's the same whenever we're in his own yard or at the park.

Oh, the versatility of the simple stick. We stabbed leaves and lily pads, batted pine cones and rocks, smacked trees, water, logs, and bushes, and made secret markings on the ground. Grandboy was the Stick-finder in Chief, providing himself and little me with suitable stickification along the way. He often traded out one stick for another. Sometimes they were simple and bare; sometimes they had lots of offshoots and clumps of leaves or pine needles.

The fact is that we found endless things to do with these free things found on the ground. I can't believe Mattel or Hasbro (or Apple) haven't found a way to create a plastic or electronic stick and charge us big-time for 'em. Wouldn't put it past 'em. But we'll have the last laugh. Just as long as there are trees shedding their branches and children who have a bazillion ways to use them.

Try to remember that whenever you are tempted to spend a lot of money for battery-powered Christmas and birthday gifts. Perhaps a little stick-hunting expedition will be much more appreciated.