I took this off Gwynn's Island on the day that it (the wind) was blowin' so hard it would knock you over. You can't tell it from this picture, but the white caps were everywhere--not only on the bay, but also in our creek.
Christmas (yes, I'm still talking about Christmas...probably because my decorations are still up and likely will stay up through Valentines Day) always makes me reminisce about presents I received as a child, and the Chesapeake Bay Sisters always looked forward to new board games.
There wasn't a lot to do in Mathews as a kid, other than torture your younger siblings and force your neighbor to eat mud pies, so the prospect of a new game was always exciting. (Sorry, neighbor, I only made the mud pie, it was the other individual with me who forced you to taste it.)
Interestingly, this summer when I was fending off fiddler crabs in the yard, I discovered a tiny plastic pumpkin that was a game piece to one of my all-time favorite games, Pig in the Garden. It was not a board game per se in that there wasn't a board, but rather a sheet of plastic on which you put your little pig, and you collected plastic vegetables and stuffed them in the pig. Naturally I don't remember the object of the game nor why we were stuffing the vegetables into the pig, but I just know I LOVED those plastic pigs and vegetables.
(I'd like to press pause for a minute and mention that I just realized I have a deep-rooted, bizarre fascination with and admiration for pigs...the Valleydale commercial--my favorite commercial of all time--was loaded with marching musical pigs; Pig in the Garden was my favorite game; eating like a pig continues to be one of my hobbies; my house is like a pig sty; the list just goes on and on. Oink.)
Stratego was always fun....I loved it when someone landed on one of my bombs. Oh, how I loved that, especially if "someone" was a certain Middle Sister.
Mystery Date was another good one, but all I remember is opening those doors, and I also remember that none of the guys were my type, that's because none of them was Harry Connick, Jr.
Sorry was always a good one....I just loved making Middle Sister have to move back to Start--"Sooooooorrrrry." This summer my kids and I played it on a camping trip, and the game became so violently competitive that two of the three players stormed off in tears. It's a shame when a grown woman cries over a board game.
Which Witch --LOVED IT! Can't remember anything but a really cool castle and that's it, but I loved that game. Middle Sister and I played for hours on end.
Mouse Trap - Not being mechanically inclined but being very impatient, I found this one to be extremely vexing and very frustrating...
Ants in the Pants - A slightly bizarre concept for an otherwise entertaining game
Life - We never had this one, but all my friends did, and I loved it. I don't know why we never had it, probably because my mother or grandmother thought it was going to teach us the facts of life, and they didn't want any part of that. Indeed I am still waiting for my "talk," but this has nothing to do with childhood games. Let's get back on track, shall we?
Twister - Loved it, but hated it when I had to get too close to sisters....was definitely more fun in college.
Go to the Head of the Class - I can't remember one single thing about this game, but I can assure you Middle Sister and I spent hours and hours playing it.
Tiddly Winks - Yes. I confess. I actually played tiddly winks. Please see earlier statement about there not being much to do in Mathews.
What were some of the other board games you remember? Not the obvious ones like Monopoly, checkers or Bingo (I remember Middle Sister and I always wanted to be the person announcing the letter/number combination, and we hoped we'd pick B-4 because then we would say it as "before." Each and every time we thought it was clever and hilarious. What a couple of saps we were.)
Anyway, my kids today would probably call these "bored" games because they can't compete with all the Nintendo and Wii and Play Station This and That.
Or can they?
