Stick Pyramid

Pyramid2, originally uploaded by escher1.

After we arrived at the campsite next to Loch Lomond we went for a stroll down by the loch. The water had obviously been a lot higher and there was a high tide mark with lots of interesting driftwood, water worn rocks, glass bottle necks and bits of bark. I had had in mind for a while that I wanted to build a stick pyramid and the bleached soft wood sticks we found along the shore were perfect. We collected up as many as we could find and sorted them into different lengths. Then we built a square platform of flat rocks upon which we would place the stick stack. So then the sticks were placed in parallel pairs with the next set at 90 degrees on top of the previous layer gradually decreasing in size. The process wasn't as easy as it first appeared, the sticks kept rolling and wouldn't stay where I put them and this got worse as it got higher and the sticks smaller. Finally at the top the sticks were very small and fiddly and wouldn't stay in the right place until I dropped them down the middle of the pile! I then decided to extend the platform and clear out the stones around it as getting out those little sticks was just too damn fiddly. Once the platform was complete I weedled out the lost sticks from under the structure and finally finished it.