In retrospect, I now see that the majority of childhood games are engineered to trick a child into learning valuable life lessons and skills.
Monopoly teaches basic economics,
Sorry teaches ambition at the expense of others,
Life..well it teaches you to drive around in a car pursuing the middle class dream. Props to anyone who can recognize the adulthood merit of
Splat. Despite this precedent, I never would have expected that summer days playing pick-up sticks would have direct application. This fence project is providing me with some fantastic experiences. As we install our new fence, we decommission a barbed wire fence. Over the months, the T posts and barbed wire have accumulated in a jumbled pile. Our project partner requested that we sort out the pile. I was designated with the lucky job.
My task was relatively simple: play pick-up sticks. However, instead of plastic rods you have an 8 lb metal post. Add dart-like wings. Throw a few rolls of barbed wire on top. And play away. Oh, and did I mentioned that many of these posts are bent and they have an affinity towards becoming lodged against another post, or worse, a roll of barbed wire?
For a girl who loves puzzles, this was one of the most rewarding. Two days later, I have a neat pile of 742 (and counting) reusable T posts and a pile 300 (I gave up counting) posts to be discarded.
No comments:
Post a Comment