Growing up, we spent many hours at the mountain cabin designing and constructing (simple) paper airplanes and launching them off of the loft onto unsuspecting adults. My father had rescued a few reams of very high quality paper from his office that had been destined for the trashcan because of it's outdated letterhead. We used this beautifully heavy, cotton-blended paper to make what we thought could be "the best paper airplane ever." We attempted different styles of contruction and made minor changes and adaptations, in search of this elusive perfect plane. I never realized that spending weekend afternoons this way this would firmly plant me in what is now a by-gone era.
Kids today don't know how to make paper airplanes. Sad but true. I know for a fact that a larger than expected proportion of middle schoolers(including boys), when faced with the task of making a paper airplane, don't know where to begin. At first I found it surprising. Then I found it very dissapointing, but indicative of our different generations. A piece of paper, even one flying through the air, is not nearly as interesting as a video game with complex graphics or a flat-screen HD TV show or movie. We only had a 14" black and white TV at the cabin, and limited channel options. I am glad I had the chance to hone my paper airplane skills. They weren't a very girly thing to enjoy, but then again, I wasn't a girly girl.
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