Picture of the day - November 26, 2008

Toy airplane in flight

Photo courtesy of Rodolfo Clix. Many things have changed since I was a young boy, and that certainly includes the toys that children have available to them. I grew up riding stick horses, spinning tops, and playing with virtually anything that could be used as a toy. And on the rare occasions when I got a "store bought" toy it was usually something very inexpensive and very simple - like the wooden toy airplane featured in today's picture. I have always loved those little airplanes. The parts were made out of feather-light balsa wood, a couple of pieces of stiff wire, two plastic wheels and a rubber band. They came unassembled, and half the fun of owning them was putting them together. Just a few twists of the rubber band-powered propeller would send that little engineering marvel souring through the air - usually for all of 10-15 feet. Time and again I would pick those airplanes up, twist their propellers, and send them on flight after flight until the fragile wood finally broke into pieces from a hard impact with...well, whatever they happened to crash into that time. Today's kids play video games and watch television for their entertainment, and the toys they are given can easily cost 200-300 times what those wonderful wooden airplanes cost back then. But you know what? I don't believe they are a bit happier with those high-tech toys and gadgets than I was with that old dead tree branch that faithfully served as my favorite stick horse. So much for teaching kids to use their imaginations...     Visitor Comments... Name: Phyllis Helton Town: Bristol, VA I agree with you. We played mostly with our imagination. We could do or be anything.   Comment on today's picture  |  View previous "Pictures Of The Day"  |  Submit a photo Why I publish the "Picture Of The Day"