Back during the summer one of my grandsons was here for a visit, and he and I were fooling around in the workshop. We had some marbles that we wanted to roll down a roughly made trough, and we started rolling marbles. From that first little project has developed our neighborhood famous "Marble Machine". We first named it the Rube Goldberg Marble Machine, but since no one understood who Rube Goldberg was or is, we simplified the name.
The picture shows a work in progress; we continue to add tracks and all sorts of mechanisms. It has "taken over" one of my work benches, and I don't see any future opportunity of tearing it down and moving it. It has literally enveloped the work bench. Now all of the grandchildren have become involved in either building on it or playing with it. We now have steel marbles moving in all directions, making all sort of noise, and creating a great clamor.
I must admit that I've become deeply involved in something that is totally useless. I guess you can say it is totally useless until you see the gleam in the eyes of the grandchildren. Even the adults in the family and in the neighborhood stand and look at it with amazement in their eyes. Everyone says "wow" to the monster. Even my brother has become involved in design and construction of some of the elements. And, by the way, it's basically made of scraps and junk.
I don't think we're going to eliminate any of the world's video games because of this project, but for just a little while it has brought a lot of joy and pleasure to Sam, Zach, Kaylyn, Samantha, Cotter, Mitchell, and Kelsi. Lynlee and Nolan are off at college, but I believe even they would have a great time with "The Marble Machine."
You can see it at: www.youtube.com/v/PaxM47eJofc
No comments:
Post a Comment