Summer shies away
while autumn draws nigh and cool
I bid sad farewell
To the season’s warm sweet smells
Of late August blooms, and sigh
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Joyce E. Johnson © 2015
Summer shies away
while autumn draws nigh and cool
I bid sad farewell
To the season’s warm sweet smells
Of late August blooms, and sigh
___________________
Joyce E. Johnson © 2015
This year (2015) marks the 100th year since RMNP opened and declared a national park in 1915. We live in Loveland which is only about thirty miles from the park entrance and every time we go up we are in awe at all there is to enjoy and photograph. Longs Peak (14,000 + ft.) and other mountain peaks, their majestic beauty, the wildlife, and wonders of nature and environment always makes us so thankful for what we have in our own ‘neck of the woods’ to the west.
No matter what kind of storms or situations come such as the devastating flood in 2013 that washed away so much of the pristine natural areas we find that in time nature restores and replenishes all, eventually. Much of it returns and comes back in a new or different way like the re-channeled Big Thompson River. Work is still being done on roads, campgrounds, and monumental markers of significance that was affected during the flood. RMNP and the town of Estes Park has seen record attendance this last summer bringing in the much-needed revenue to fund and support the projects still in construction. But, whatever the storm took from us there will always be the magnificent awe-inspiring mountains that welcomes visitors each year, and us who live near them who never tire from seeing all God has created for us to enjoy.
For more information on Rocky Mountain National Park and the 100th anniversary celebration you can find it here
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Joyce E. Johnson (2015)
The floor was our playing table. It was not cards or dice we held in our hands, but Jacks. Not the Jack of cards, but those tiny metal objects with spokes poking out from the center. The other thing needed for the game was a small rubber ball with a good bounce.
With our playing hand full of jacks we threw them out onto the floor. One by one we picked up a jack after tossing the ball six to eight inches from the floor, and catching the ball before it bounced twice retrieving both in the same hand.
When a player collected all the jacks with the ball bouncing just once the turn moved to the next player. If the ball bounced twice before retrieving the jack the player was out of the game. And like cards or dice we played to win, as it soon turned into a competitive match with our opponent.
There were as many different variations to the games of ‘Jacks’ as there are to a deck of cards, or pair of dice. When we completed each round we continued on to a harder game, like scooping up all the jacks in one swipe before the ball bounced even once.
If we dropped or moved a jack in the process of picking one up we were out of that round and would have to repeat that game at our next turn. The turn then went to the next player. The better we got at these games, the more fun we had, and new ones were invented.
In the game, ‘Around the world in eighty days,’ the player tossed the ball, picked up a jack and with a swift hand encircled the ball before the ball bounced twice. If at any time the ball was dropped, or hit a jack the player was out until his/her next turn.
In the game, ‘Pigs in the basket’, the player had to pick up a jack in one fast swoop before the ball bounced once. The process was completed with each jack in the same manner. Then, the player advanced to the next round as the player attempted to collect all the jacks in one swoop before the ball bounced.
In one game the player grabbed a jack, and tapped it on the floor before the ball bounced.
The trick to playing these games well was not to scatter the jacks so far away that they became unreachable to a quick hand, yet not have them so bunched up as to touch and make it more complicated for the player to retrieve the jacks without disturbing or touching another in the process.
Today, these games may not be known to most kids who play digital or arcade games on their tablets and smart phones, as my grandchildren do, but when I was a child Jacks was one of my favorite games. A set of jacks and ball were one of the most affordable, inexpensive games.
One day when shopping at a hobby store I found and bought the above large decorative ‘Jacks’ to display and use like bookends. On another occasion when going through some kept mementoes from my childhood I discovered I still had a few from my old set even though I keep a newer set and ball for my grandkids to use. But, they just can’t ‘get into’ the game like I once did. 🙂
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Joyce E. Johnson (2015)