I was strolling the elevated boardwalk at Congaree National Park. As the trails and the lower boardwalk were inundated, I didn't have a lot of choice, though I was delighted to be there all the same. Unfortunately, some of the boards have bigger gaps between them than others, and one caught my walking stick. Before I could grab at it, it had fallen through and floated away. I think I could have made the grab if I hadn't been so surprised, and maybe a little tickled.
Yeah, it's only a walking stick, but I had it for a long time. More than ten years, less than twenty kind of long time. It fit me well. I didn't really whittle it or anything, but I stripped the bark so it was fairly attractive looking and comfortable in the hand. It was a lot of help in the days when my back gave me more trouble than it does now. More recently, it's been more useful for fending off spider webs on the trail. No, it is neither magic wand nor magic staff (at least I better hope not), but it will be missed. On the other hand, it makes a good excuse to go wandering in the woods to find another one. And it will be pretty funny using the Swiss Army (OK really LL Bean) flashlight to strip the bark this time. So there's that!
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