It's no secret that I wasn't a rich kid. We lived in apartments all my life. Whether it was the RIAC housing, Columbia Manor, Valley Encantada or Saddle Creek, my mother busted her ass to raise me.
When Star Wars blasted its way into my life in 1977, there wasn't a year or day that I didn't think about it or play Jedi or Stormtrooper. One of the coolest weapons from the movies was the Jedi weapon known as the lightsaber. There was a toy back in those days. It was nothing more than a flashlight mounted to an inflatable tube. If you waved it through the air, small air vents would cause a hum noise like those in the movies. I knew of a few friends that had them way back then; and although they were freaking cool, there was still something odd about the toy.
Unfortunately, I never owned one of those toys. So, my creative mind turned my Grandmother's yardstick into my lightsaber. I spent hours running around her backyard in Alamogordo swinging it back and forth. I would generate the hum noise myself and even the spark and clash sounds as it struck obstacles in my path. Now, since my lightsaber was nothing more than a thin piece of wood, it was prone to snap or break. And my Grandmother was usually never happy about it. It would be followed with a scolding, how I should not play so rough and a trip down to the TG&Y to buy another one. I would be told not to play with it as it was used to measure things. Yet, that wouldn't last too long and before my Grandmother knew it, I was outside fighting Rancors and Imperials.
Oh, I never owned the Kenner Stormtrooper Blaster either. But, a ruler held between the thumb and forefinger worked well enough. It was long enough that I could even grab the base with my other hand and pretend I was shooting Rebel Fleet Troopers or Jawas. Although, I wish I had the official toys, I got by just fine with a few measuring sticks and my imagination. And there's not a day I regret swinging my Yardstick Lightsabers...
