~The Million Dollar Walking Stick~ MiDaS

Overcominghumanity
Oct 22, 2018
3 min read

Seven months, 5,300 miles, and one stick ago, I fell asleep in my bed. As I slipped into a deep slumber, I began to dream~ I dreamt of a stick protruding from a beavers dam~. That's not some weird metaphor lol.

When I awoke, I found myself wanting to find this "stick". It was raining, as it had been since the day before. Just a light rain, but I was undeterred from mission, I had to try and locate this dream object if at all possible.

I knew of a beavers dam not far away, so I began to prepare for my adventure. I made arrangements for my daughter to be cared for (she would've been great company for this walk, but I didn't want her to get soaked, and no one likes wet, blistery feet.). I gathered my things as I waited for her caretaker. Rain jacket, shoes, back pack, and my machete(Condor Discord- hands down best tool I've ever owned.), and I was ready for an outing to the mystical beaver dam.

I had to walk the railroad tracks to get it, as it is not accessible from the road. As I was walking along, I was keeping a keen eye open for any railway traffic. That can get you in trouble(I know, I shouldn't be doing that, but I had to go find this.).

Ever meet any of the people who work for a railroad? I have, and I was trying to avoid getting face time with them, we've met before and it was in the least to say, a less than pleasant. But I suppose they have good reason to be strict, a lot of accidents happen on the tracks.

It began to rain hard, I was already soaked and still had a mile to go before I arrived on location. It was raining so hard I could hear nothing but the sound of the rain beating on my raincoat. That's when it happened. Even though, I had still managed to maintain a quarter to a half mile of visibility, it wasn't enough time to get clear before I was spotted by some employees of the rail company.

To my surprise, they were very nice and simply asked me to be cautious. You know, just move off the tracks to give traffic plenty of space. I nodded my head in agreement, and away they went.

I trudged along until I arrived on the scene. Just a short walk through a marshy little swamp biome, which was still gross. I have never been a fan of mud (Except, when I was a small child, as I used to be a hydroelectric engineer, and the rainy season was opportune for such an activity), but I was determined to find this thing.

As I walked into the clearing, I saw it.. My dream stick! It was sticking up out of the beaver dam, just like in my dream. I knew it would be, but now that I'm saying it, and seeing it written, I feel just a tad bit ridiculous. Okay, I guess I am a funny guy. But seriously, that's how it happened.

I walked up to it, out across the beavers dam to the middle. (I've walked on beavers dams plenty, it is always a little precarious.) I grabbed ahold of "Excalibur" err the stick, and pulled it free. It was heavy.... It was seriously water logged, being close to six feet long it weighed quite a bit, it was probably twelve to fourteen pounds.

I walked back to the rail way dragging this stick. In the pouring rain. Two miles on the tracks. Soaked to the bone, never wetter. But, I found it. I was so happy. I stashed under the porch for the next week. To Be Continued.....