On walking past an exhibitor furiously twirling a stick with some yarn:
Me: “Ooh! What are you doing?!”
Exhibitor: “Twirling.”
…..
……
Me: (waiting for the big reveal) “Yes?”
Exhibitor: “I twirl this yarn around this stick which has elastic and make a long cord. It’s a great thing to do with kids.”
…..
…..
Me: “Cool! It’s so pretty! And then what do you do with the long cord?” (holding my breath knowing, just knowing that I was about to be given insight into the next wondercraft to hit the known universe.)
Exhibitor: “Oh, you can tie it in your hair or use it as a doorstop to keep out drafts.”
Me: (excitedly) “Wow! That's cool! And what else? What else?!” (My mind whirling at a million miles an hour at the possibilities but still drawing a blank. Here’s comes the secret – I know it – here it comes!)
Exhibitor: “Um, it’s a great thing to do with kids.”
Me: (sound of 1,000,000 mph brain coming to screeching halt) “Oh … cool… that’s nice…. it’s so pretty… well thank you….”
Which made me realize that of all the arts and crafts which I’ve ever done, ever since I can remember, there was always a catch basin category into which fell all the handcrafted items which had neither a function nor a form but were really just meant to keep hands busy and pass the time. But after investing so much effort, I felt obligated to attach some sort of purpose to those long knobby-knitted ropes and endless loomed daisies and what better way than by turning them into potholders and yes, even hair ornaments. Most of my school portraits are of me with long carefully crafted coils dangling from my ponytails. But the funny thing is that sometimes giving a purpose to a little bunch of well-crafted uglies only makes for an even bigger well-crafted ugly. Dear God – I just realized how much of my childhood was spent with crap I made hanging from my head like a demented hairy Christmas tree. OH MY GOD. It’s like suddenly realizing that you had food on your teeth and no one ever wanted to tell you for fear of hurting your feelings. I HAD CRAP HANGING FROM MY HEAD!!!!! CRAP!!! FROM THE SIDES OF MY HEAD!!!! WHY DID NO ONE SET ME STRAIGHT?!!!!
Deep breath. Sigh.
Well, OK, on second thought they really are sweet pictures with me all smiling and proud of my dangly creations and somehow I did get a boy in the fifth grade to declare his love to me in a Valentine’s Day card so I guess those head decorations weren’t all that bad. Maybe they really were cute after all.
Hmmm… well, perhaps I was too harsh in my judgment of that twirling stick lady and should revisit for more details. Hey yeah, my hair is long enough to wear in a ponytail again, don’t ‘cha know.
If You Can't Figure Out What To Make With It,
Then Just Stick It In Your Hair