Recently I was very lucky to be included in a ‘BeSpoke Monster Stick Hunt’. A very rare opportunity I’m told.
We started in the early afternoon.

When we arrived at the park, Hendrix plopped himself on the ground and looked up – took a photo and said: ‘First one must calm, centre and focus the Monster Heart” then he handed me back my phone, spread his arms and legs out and took quite a few deep breaths.
One of the first things that must be done on a stick hunt, after the ‘calming’ of course, is to survey your surroundings, looking for best stick areas, competition from other monsters and of course making sure to stay unseen by humans and dogs. As you know dogs have a liking for sticks as well, so the monster must move quickly and as quietly as possible.
BeSpoke monsters have the ability to just seep into their surroundings. Hendrix – a master stick hunter – has these powers as well.
Now, I realize that Hendrix may look calm and even restful in the above photo, but no…it wasn’t 5 seconds after I shot this photo that Hendrix was up climbing.
Here he is from what he described as ‘the perfect vantage point’:
And after a long few tense minutes of Hendrix just starring like that, he leaped and found his prey:
This rather large (“…oh, I’ve caught waaaay larger” *-inserted by editor) stick had to be broken down to be carried home.
After a brief rest and a photo of Hendrix with the best part of the stick, we walked home…Hendrix triumphant and boastful of another successful hunt.
There are sticks all around the studio now, in curtains, on walls, stuck upright in vases…each one has a story, dramatic tales of narrow escapes from dogs and children. I will try to convince Hendrix to tell you these tales someday.
In the meantime, have a wonderful day doing whatever it is that you are doing and here’s hoping you are doing something you love to do!!