So we ran around the back yard for a while making laser sounds, diving for cover, yelling "Got you!", and just having fun. The whole time though, I was having a serious flashback.
I was eleven when Star Wars first came out, just a little bit older than my son is now. I don't think that kids today can appreciate just how groundbreakingly different that movie was. I was totally blown away the first time I saw it, and obsessed with it from then on. Later that summer I went to visit my cousin for a few days, and of course we went to see it again. Later, he revealed to me one of his greatest treasures, a wooden 'laser pistol' my uncle had made for him. It was very much like the one in the picture above, except I think it was made from hockey sticks. I offered all sorts of things in trade, but he wouldn't go for it.
I was determined to have one of my own though. When I got home I made a plan. I waited until Dad was out in the field, snuck into his shop, and fired up the table saw to make my own. How I managed to do it without cutting my fingers off is a mystery to me, but I did it. And, I might add, it was waaay better than the one my uncle made. And better than the one I had just made. Ironic that I did better job at eleven than I did at forty-seven. In defense of my older self I spent a lot more time on it when I was eleven.
I went on to make a lot more laser guns, machine guns, and rifles. They stayed behind when I left the farm and eventually disappeared. I blame my nephews. Now, though, when someone asks me how I got started in woodworking, the answer is 'Star Wars.'
