Bedlam is the only way I can explain the afternoon of card playing...Diane, our hostess, served a lovely salad luncheon, giving the seven ladies a chance to meet and visit, with the usual small talk of getting acquainted...Long time county residents and relative newcomers chatted like old friends, a prelude to the card game...Diane took a few minutes to explain that with "new and old" card players we would be helping each other or learning the game...I'm sort of in the middle, having played with these ladies several times, but still not understanding the counting and bidding because they are so good at it, that they leave me shaking my head and bumbling along...The "old timers" play the game by rote, all the time talking about life in Wallowa County...AND the only problem is they switch subjects, mid sentence, talking first about today, then back 50 years ago, then to last week and on to tomorrow...Occasionally you hear the word(s), pass, open, fifty one go, what is trump again?, who led that ace?...These phrases are all interspersed in and among things like, "Did they shoot the horse right there?" or "Is the bakery ever open?" or "Who got fired?" On and on it goes, until my head is spinning, listening to three conversations, counting the cards in my hand, keeping track of who played what and suddenly the room gets warm and luckily it is time to take a break and Diane serves her lovely "Brownie Sundae."..The chatter slows as everyone dives into dessert, Ahhhh, a respite.
I arrive home in time for Herb and I to go for our usual Thursday night outing on the court house lawn, where we listen to "Sky In The Road."..A husband and wife duo from Portland that comes every year to perform in Wallowa County...The play a variety of music, all upbeat, easily understood...Just what I needed to clear my head and calm my pounding heart...Hugs To All...OWAV:)
Photo by Pat..:)
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