Go Fish
I did something today that I haven't done in far too long. I played cards. Go Fish to be exact. When was the last time you busted out a good 'ol game of Go Fish? Just the premise of the game is quite entertaining:
Do you have any 8's? (ie: Do you have what I need?)
Nope. Go Fish. (ie: Nope. Go get it yourself.)
I played it with my dear little darling niece Denae. I would give her all the 8's in the world, if I had 'em. But instead, I just kept telling her to Go Fish.
Playing the card game brought back fond memories of family camping trips embellished with Fan-Tan and summer nights spent competing in Nerts (my parents wouldn't let us have a Nintendo, so we had to entertain ourselves the old fashioned way). My sisters and I use to play all night, even into the wee hours of the morning. We would spend hours and hours competing in card games. We laughed, we cried, we won, we lost.
When I think of cards, I think a lot about my Grandpa. That generation (the old, OLD people) love card games (at least my Grandpa's family did). Poker, mostly. And some Gin-Rummy. But isn't it a shame that people don't play cards like they used to? They're so old and simple and cheap. Plus, they fit snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug right in your pants pocket. I have a romantic imagine in my mind of World War II soldiers overseas, in their handsome uniforms, smoking cigarettes and playing poker. Or cowboys, out on the open range, sipping coffee and playing solitaire by the light of a lantern to stay awake. Games, carried on from one generation to the next. Same now as they were a hundred years ago.
Our grandparents didn't have fancy board games. They didn't have trivia games with pointless questions like "What hit T.V. show...." Because they didn't care. They just wanted to hang out by their wood stove in the dead of winter, sip their tea, and share in some friendly competition (although, let's be honest, Stuart and I can get pretty ruthless). What entertainment! It keeps your mind sharp and young- calculating the cards, planning your attack, anticipating your next draw. When was the last time you invited your friends over to rock some card games? Would they disown you if you did? Are we so enticed in technology that we can't even remember how to mingle over a deck of 52?
I am vowing to bring 'em back. If you are my friend - beware. I may just be inviting you over for dinner AND for some competitive Slap Jack. Because I think things that were shouldn't be lost. I think that people still need to talk, converse, play and enjoy each other outside of technology. I think need to turn the T.V. off and enjoy times of complete silence. We still need to hold paper books in our hands, smell them, feel them, and turn the pages. We need to play musical instruments and entertain each other with a joyful noise. We need to bust out a deck of cards and have a night filled with poker chips, snack food, and bluffing.
On that note, I have never played poker. Just watched.
I'm more of a Go Fish kinda gal.
So if you would like to win some peanut M&Ms (we don't have real money to play poker with, so we supplement with candies), feel free to come over and join in the par-tay. Bring your grandparents, too. I think there is a lot more we can learn from them.