Philosophy: the stick

Self-tutoring about connectivity: the tutor reflects….

Last fall I was tidying up the yard: a mountain of prunings had accumulated that I finally had to organize for curb pickup.

Looking around for whatever I’d missed, I noticed a neatly cut stick that had escaped the pruning pile. It was a few inches long, about 1/2″ thick, and nicely round. Perhaps it had rolled away from the pile.

I was tempted to pick it up to bring to the pile. Yet, it was out of the way, and looked appealing where it was, so I left it. Every week or so afterwards, I’d notice it through the window.

A couple of months afterwards, a fence board came loose. I looked around for a quick fix which for a few minutes eluded me. Then I thought of the stick.

In its neatly cut end, the stick could be twisted onto the screw the board had loosened from. I replaced the board around the screw, then twisted the stick onto the screw like a bolt.

Was this (then) unknown use for the stick the reason I decided to leave it be two months earlier?