Walking Sticks

April 2020

Boy, was March a month to forget or what?  So many bad things happened. This Corona Virus thing became a global health crisis, and we had our first confirmed case here in the United States. Now it’s April, and it seems to have spread everywhere.  With that, our government has declared a national emergency. We now face lockdowns, and we are all being told to stay at home.  Travel restrictions have been implemented.  Everything is closing. Sporting events have been cancelled, and entire seasons have been scrubbed or are in jeopardy.  They say we will all be wearing masks soon and practicing what they are calling “social distancing”. It’s mayhem!

To top it all off the stock market just took a major dump. My company issued a work from home policy, which is not great for a start-up company that is trying to sell new, innovative food ingredients. No company will buy that stuff until this thing is over. And who knows how long this will last?  Who knows who will get sick?  How many will die? 

These are crazy times! Way too much bad stuff to think about. I desperately need a hobby to keep my mind occupied. I think we all do!  Well, at least I kind of have one I can fall back on.  Other than writing. This one has been on hold for a while now, as I have been too busy with other things. But it’s time to do something. Anything!  While it is hard to think about anything other than what’s going on in the world, I think I’ll get back into it.  If nothing more than to bolster my emotional health.

So today I am both working on, and pondering, the construction of walking sticks. Something I can do with my hands. I’m not sure I have ever mentioned this, but I am not a handyman. I have a work bench with a bunch of tools. But it’s mainly for show. I don’t fix things, other than very basic stuff. I’m a pretty good cook, know a bunch about food, and can adequately string a few words together, but I’m not the guy you’d call to fix your dishwasher. Or help you build something.  That’s just not my thing. 

Now walking sticks are a different animal. I love to create fine walking sticks. First, you get to go out in the forest and find the right piece of wood. And you know I like nature. Each type of tree has unique properties and exploring the outdoors to find them is a cool experience.  Once you find them, really all you have to do work to make them look cool.  And that takes more time and patience than skill.  A little basic sculpting with a sharp knife. Some elbow grease with some sandpaper. A little stain, a cool wrap for a handle and maybe fit it with a tip and you’re done. All which is doable in today’s sequestered environment.   I’ll need to stock up on stain.

I have completed 5 or 6 of them and have a dozen more in various stages of processing. You don’t have to be a certified wood worker or a carpenter in any way.  It’s very engaging, in its own embarrassingly simplistic way.  I’m now comparing species of wood and their different properties.  It’s work that allows time to ponder.  And you know I like that too. 

Today I did some knife work and some sanding.  It was a beautiful, sunny April day.  I sat on a chair in my driveway, away from the rest of the world and whittled.  Fresh air and sunshine are very therapeutic on their own.  But whittling makes it even better.  I might have looked a little like a psycho out the with my long knife, plaid shirt and torn jeans, whittling away.  Put who cares? I was surprised how many people were outside doing random things. Way more than I expected.  I can’t believe how many were wearing masks already.  Even when they were outside.  Kinda crazy, isn’t it?

While I was at work, I thought about the world.  I wondered if people might walk more now.  Outdoors that is.  With all the restrictions and this social distancing thing.  Because prior to Corona, people seemed to walk far less. If they were someone that seemingly needed a walking stick, they would just stay home. Frankly, you really don’t have to have a physical need for a walking stick just to use one.  They are kind of fun and cool too.  At least in my opinion. I love to walk on the path around our home with one.  But not as much as I enjoy making them.

They are a little like a cane, but cooler and more practical. They have loads of different functions.  They can be a weapon if need be. They are certainly customizable. I’m also experimenting with shillelaghs, which were intended to be a weapon that looked a bit like a cane back in the day.  I have a couple of pieces of wood I am drying out, just to get started.

It looks like I will have the time to refine my skills at walking stick design and construction.  Especially if all this stuff continues.  I sure hope not.  But maybe there will be a market for these things with all that is going on.  Again, who knows?  But right now, at least I have something I enjoy, something I have some skill at, to occupy my time and my mind. Before this world and all of its problems drives me and everyone else crazy.  There will likely be a glut of walking stick makers before this is done.  With the new 6-foot rule, I am sure people will start walking around with sticks that long to keep people away.  Maybe I’ll start making mine all that long.  Not a bad marketing idea in this freaky, 2020 world!