Last week I wrapped myself up in a gloom because of a problem which will almost surely be proven to be of small moment. You know how it is. You hit a bump and it suddenly occurs to you that you’re miserable and soon it’s just you and the misery swaddled up and no room for anybody else. I thought about fishing it away, but I couldn’t get my act together. Sunday came and there was no shaking it. I lay in front of a TV set while characters from some inane marathon of cable reality programming danced idiotlike and terrible.
At some point in my family’s distant past, we established the tradition of playing boardgames on Sunday afternoons, which tradition was promptly scuttled over an acrimonious Monopoly session that is highly controversial to this day. Certain allegations were leveled, rivalries flared, and the Monopoly set has mouldered unloved in the closet since that time. The only familymember who apparently misses our Sunday boardgames is my younger boy, who lobbies every week for us to take up the ritual again. In effect, we swapped the tradition of actually playing boardgames for that of being badgered about them. On Sunday last, the boy set himself to his task, singling me out (I suppose) because I had remained stationary for a number of hours and made for an easy mark. I am sorry to say I finally succumbed not out of tender feelings, but the lack of strength induced by the dark cloud I had crawled beneath.
So we got out the RISK board. This may be seen as another setback for the Monopoly set. It seemed like the right choice for the state I was in, but I’m not going to disassemble the metaphor—what I’d been risking or failing to risk. We played for the rest of the night. I don’t remember who won every game. I sat Indian-style for so long on the living room floor, I am now a really promising candidate for double hip replacement surgery. My ass went all the way numb, and the rest of me started feeling a little better.
How Small A Trout 
We seem to be sharing similar stories in life….
So it would seem! Thanks for stopping by.
Our family has gone through the same board games cycle, and now it is my daughter who pleads for us to play clue or this rare game we pulled from a magizine called Elefant Hunt by Tom Wham.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, bud.
I wish I would have spent more time with my kids doing things like that. Now they are grown and I miss them even when I’m in the same room with them. That may not make sense to everyone. I like it that your posts are not limited to just fishing – for instance the one about the film maker – something different. Keep up the great and diverse writing.
Makes perfect sense. Thanks for the comment.
I can relate too. I’ve got three young boys, 10, 6, and 4. The 10-year-old has diverse interests but we play chess together and go fishing (and do a lot of homework). The 6-year-old likes computer games and legos, and the 4-year-old likes wrestling with me. My opinion is that my kids are sort of my reason for being. I’d be awfully lonely without them I think. But at the same time I have my own agenda. It’s sometimes tough to find a balance.
But, could I recommend that you seriously consider putting a big ol’ shotgun slug through the cable TV programming? What benefit does that have for you?
Tom Anderson-Brown
Thanks for commenting, Tom. All good points. And you’re right — that stupid cable company’s got a reckoning coming…
: ) well I am glad you’re feeling a little better! Fishing could probably take of the rest.
Took care of that tonight (smiley face).
Well two of my three kids have grown but we used to love board games….Sorry, Monopoly and Payday. Now divorce two seperaye houses and my youngest loves to play UNO. The other day we got Battleship which I haven’t played in forever. :))) awesome post
BATTLESHIP ROCKS.