Posted tagged ‘games’

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“Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving, make every day a holiday and celebrate just living.”

August 18, 2012

Some time during the night the thunder woke me up. It was house shaking, but I didn’t care. I just rolled over and went back to sleep. When I woke up just before 9, it was to a dark, damp morning. It had rained, and I missed it. Outside looks a bit lighter than it had so maybe a bit of sun is on the way though the prediction is for showers.

The countdown to my trip has officially begun. I will be winging my way to Ghana one week from today. The pre-flight list has been activated. Today I will get to cross off two of the items. I know Zoey likes to follow my progress across the world so here are my flight numbers:

Boston to New York, August 25th: Delta Flight 1091 leaving at 5:55pm and arriving at Kennedy at 7:35.   New York to Accra: Delta Flight 26 leaving at 8:30 and arriving at Kotoka at 11:30 am on Sunday, August 26th. There is a four-hour difference between here and Ghana so the flight is close to 11 hours long. My return trip begins on September 17th: Delta 27 leaving Accra at 10:10pm and arriving at Kennedy at 5:05 am. A few cups of coffee and a newspaper later, Delta flight 867 leaves at 8:20am and will wing its way to Logan Airport where I’ll land at 9:44. I’ll grab my bags and then wait for the bus to take me to the Cape, arrival time unknown as I have yet to buy my bus ticket or check the schedule.

My birthday was a wonder. First, my friends and I waited for nearly an hour for the trip that wasn’t. The lobster cruise had been cancelled, and the call announcing that had been made after we’d left so we didn’t know. Neither did the other people waiting. My friend called and was told the news while someone else checked her home phone and found the call had been made at 3:10: boarding was at 3:30 so we all missed the call. We left the marina and tried to figure an alternative. On our summer to do list is the Lighthouse Inn for drinks so we headed to West Dennis. My friends had never been there, but right away they loved the outside tables right on the water. It was so breezy all of the table umbrellas were spinning, and the beach grass was swaying almost to the ground. We ordered drinks and appetizers and watched some people learn to drive their jet skis. Most got the hang of it but one woman was going in circles. The ocean was rough with small white caps, and they were moving her and she let them. She looked afraid to give the jet ski gas. She finally did and went forward a bit then must have panicked as she stopped and went in circles again. She amused us by doing that several times. Finally we lost interest and ordered another round then ordered dinner which was delicious. Our alternative to the boat had been wonderful, and we decided that the boat ride would have been quite choppy given the wind and the size of the waves so we were content on land watching the ocean, the gulls and the woman go in circles.

After dinner we left and went to my friends’ house. They brought out a cake and sang Happy Birthday. I blew out the candles and opened my gift, a calendar filled with pictures of our visit to Fenway Park. To end the evening we played Phase 10, our favorite card game, and I lost. It was the only loss of the night!

Categories: Musings
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“Even as an adult I find it difficult to sleep on Christmas Eve. Yuletide excitement is a potent caffeine, no matter your age.”

December 22, 2011

55° on December 22nd just doesn’t seem right. When I went to get the papers, I stood a while outside and took in the morning. We have sun and blue skies for the first time in days, but it all seems wrong. Where’s the snow? I should be seeing my breath and be clad in wool from head to toe. I’m sure it sounds like complaining, and I really don’t want winter as I’m loving this temperature, but it’s Christmas time. It’s sleigh bells ringing and Frosty dancing. It’s even the first day of winter. Mother Nature is behind her time.

Every kid counted down to the big day, Christmas Eve. The lucky ones, like us, had advent calendars which let us know how many days were left without having to ask. I swear that’s why my mother started giving them to us. We just counted the unopened windows and knew how long. Later, when we were older, we did the math. I have to admit that still being in school until the 23rd helped. We were forced to be busy so the days went more quickly. Christmas Eve is the longest day of the year, not the summer solstice. Just ask any kid.

I don’t remember the specifics of most Christmas Eve days except night was a long time in coming. I bet we drove my mother crazy. It was never a day for us to play outside or wander. It was a close to home day. The TV was always on in case there was a Christmas show, just what we needed to heighten the excitement. We wondered what Santa would bring. Would he follow our list or be creative?

We always got a new game or two for Christmas. As long as I can remember, we were a family of game players. Learning to play cards started with war then we worked our way up to more complex games as we got older. My parents, figuring they had built-in partners, taught my brother and me whist. We also played all sorts of board games either sitting on the living room rug or at the kitchen table. Santa always left the games front and center under the tree leaning upright against other toys. They were often the first things we saw. I don’t remember asking for games on my list. They were Santa’s choice, but we never complained.

I still try to give a game at Christmas. It’s one of those traditions meant to be carried on year to year. The one change is we just can’t manage sitting on the rug to play. It’s too hard to get up.

Categories: Musings
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“To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me.”

March 3, 2011

The sun is shining, the sky is blue and the temperature is 22°. Tonight we’ll dip to 13°. I’ve had enough. I’m asking for only one day of warmth, deck weather warmth. That would hold me for a while.

Two of my travel magazines arrived in the mail this week. Their pages were filled with advertisements showing pictures of people enjoying the beaches of some tropical isle surrounded by water so blue it didn’t look real. All along the seaside were houses painted in bright colors and market wagons selling baskets and vibrant clothing trimmed in reds and blues. I felt like one of Pavlov’s dogs.

We played our weekly trivia game last night at the Squire in Chatham. It is a fun night we look forward to every week. We have dinner, a few drinks, a lot of laughs and a few friendly arguments over possible answers. Generally we’re in contention every week. Two weeks ago we won, last week we were third and even though our team was smaller than usual last night, only four of us, we won again. Other than the first round, we were ahead all night. We won a $50.00 certificate to the Squire and bragging rights for the week.

When I read the paper or do crossword puzzles, I see potential trivia questions. On Sunday, the capital of the gem state and the first chimpanzee in space were two of the crossword puzzle answers. I knew neither but figured them out from the clues around them. I won’t forget them now, and I won’t tell you either.

We used to play Jeopardy. One of us would be Alex giving the answers while the rest of  us were the contestants with clickers instead of buttons. That worked for only a little while. My father was a clicking maniac and often answered even though he hadn’t clicked first. He drove us all so crazy we got rid of the clickers, and Jeopardy became a pencil and paper game. We still had fun.

Categories: Musings
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“Spring, summer, and fall fill us with hope; winter alone reminds us of the human condition.”

March 1, 2011

This is my latest post ever, but I had a busy morning then I had to do some errands and then I needed to rest up from the morning drudgery. The sun is still among the missing. I saw my doctor today for my annual physical, and she put me on vitamin D pills; instead, I should wear one of those light hats the people in Northern Exposure wore during the winter to stave off SAD. I’m beginning to envy the bears who sleep through the cold, sunless days of winter though I have noticed the days stay lighter longer now. That helps to lift a bit of the pall of winter. I know that better days are coming, but I’m impatient.

The birds were back in full force this morning. I watched them for a while and was glad to see my chickadees. Their usual spots had been usurped by the goldfinches. All four feeders were busy. Only one spawn of Satan dropped by, and he didn’t have any luck. I had left a few seeds on the deck, but the spawn missed them.

Other than school days in winter when it was too dark or cold, we used to play outside all the time. We had this boundless energy from being cooped up all day in a classroom, and my mother was forever shooing us out the door. She wanted peace and quiet, and it didn’t include us. My younger sisters stayed closer to home. Often they played dolls on the back steps. I was on my bike roaming or playing games with kids in the neighborhood. We played red light, hide and seek, kick ball, tag and red rover and so many more I don’t remember. We never needed much equipment, just a ball would do for most games.

My neighborhood was teeming with kids of every age. It was quiet only at night after bedtime. In winter a barking dog might break the silence of the night, but in summer you could hear TV’s from the neighbors’ living rooms and people talking. I still remember lying in bed and falling asleep to the murmur of voices. It was a comforting sound.

Categories: Musings
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“Games lubricate the body and the mind.”

January 10, 2011

Yesterday I had all intentions of doing another entry so I got coffee, sat down, got comfy and turned on the computer, but it didn’t turn on, didn’t even make a clicking sound. I got on the floor and checked every cord, all eight hundred of them, and found two usb cords attached to the back of the computer but attached to nothing else. Still on the floor I followed every wire and found three which belonged to machines I no longer have. Now I had my cords down to seven hundred and ninety five ( counting the homeless usb cords), but my computer still wouldn’t start. I took out and then replaced all the cords. Nothing. Finally I gave up and sat down with a new, hot cup of coffee and started reading. Today a computer man came and lo and behold it was the power cord. It was plugged into a surge protector with battery back up and only one side of the surge protector worked, and it was not the computer side. I am $70.00 poorer but I have my computer back!

We had only 3 or so inches of snow over Saturday night, and it was a winter wonderland when I woke up on Sunday morning. The plow had been by, and it buried two of my three newspapers. The New York Times was the only one visible. An edge of its blue plastic stood up from the pile left by the plow. I had to wait until my driveway was plowed before the papers reappeared.

When I was a kid, we only had a toys or games which never needed a repair man. If the tire on my bike had a leak, I’d find it and fix it. If I’d misplaced a piece from a game, I’d use something else. A button worked just as well as the Monopoly shoe. Many of my games had those hit the arrow with your fingers counters so we always had one to use. I grew out of most of my games, and they sat, with all their pieces and boards and counters, on the closet shelf or in the cellar. Other games I never outgrew. Sorry is just about my favorite, and the game I still have is  over forty years old. It still has all its pieces, all of the men and all of the cards. The board isn’t even faded. It has aged better than I.

Categories: Musings
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