Devil Sticks

OK, I suppose I am a little old for this (I turned 47 on August 25), but I had to give it a go.

Devil Sticks.

Yep. Now I'm hooked. I'm carrying them around the house with me all the time now.

Stupid idea really. You grab a couple of pieces of dowel wrapped in rubber or leather and you hit another piece of dowel with tassles on each end of it, and you keep it in the air between the two sticks by throwing it from one stick to the other in a pendulum type of rhythm. Kind of like juggling with sticks.

Sounds easy, doesn't it.

A friend of mine was having a go at the Wellbeing Expo I was at on the weekend. Well, I just couldn't resist having a try. He made it look like it was something that I could actually do. So...

Click click bang! Try again. Click click click bang! Again... click bang. Again... click click click click bang! (The "bang" being the stick hitting the floor - at this stage more bangs than clicks.)

A crowd developed - mainly to laugh at my really unco attempts compared to Aaron's more than halfway decent spins and gyrations. Well, at least they were entertained.

So was I. So much so that I brought a set of sticks home with me, and now after one whole day I can go... click click click click click bang!

This is surprisingly physical. I was exhausted after 5 minutes. This morning I discovered that my leg muscles, my arms, wrists, and various other muscles I obviously haven't used a lot lately, are quite sore.

Great. Exercise and loads of fun all rolled into one. Just the thing for me. I might even master these things - eventually.

Aaron said he intends to start busking in Bright this summer and laughingly suggested that I should join him. I think he has in mind that I'll be the comic relief. He'll show everyone how it's done and I'll show everyone how bloody impossible it is to do. OK buddy, you're on! You and me - devil stick duels in the park this summer.

No, really, I'm serious... honest...

Summer isn't all that far away now. It's spring on Friday. Yikes! I'd better get back out there and practice... click click click....