Two weeks ago I wrote about cable ties (aka zip ties) in a “Duh” essay. I pointed out that, duh, I never before used those simply wonderful devices. Today I want to expound on my excitement with these wondrous slivers of plastic.

It began with 8-inch ties. I was able to use them creatively for help in building a small hut in my backyard. Things that I had so much difficulty securing in the past became fun, so simple it made me smile out loud. For 30 years I have struggled with hanging posters in the hut I build each year. I have tried tapes and cords of all kinds. Usually, I have resorted to painstakingly sticking safety pins through the poster and the tarp walls to hold up the posters. No more.

A cable tie easily and quickly went through the two adjacent holes I poked in the tarp and in the poster. I enjoyed pulling the tie tight like a lasso, while listening to the sound it makes: zip! I envisioned Hopalong Cassidy lassoing and securing his foes. I cut off the excess piece of tie. Voila. All that remains is a small white line in each corner of the poster.

A few days ago I purchased 13-inch, and four-inch ties. I used the 13-inch ties to secure two pole lamps to the walls of the hut. The lamps no longer had bases to hold them up, but the ties did the trick. I had no idea how I could use the four-inch ties until the other night while working on my popup cards.

I had to secure a strand of wire to the end of a cartoon character’s fishing pole. Glue and tape just didn’t hold. I sat down and decided to think of solutions when, all of a sudden, it hit me – the small cable tie. It worked like a charm.

Lying in bed, I try to think of new ways to use my ties. It’s no coincidence that the title of this essay is “Ties that Bind.” Ties that bind remind me of my marriage commitment, and now I can see that my cable ties and I have entered the realm of a serious relationship from here to the world to come.

Mr. Ebsen may be contacted at robertebsen@hotmail.com