About one week BC (before crutches), a limb fell from one of our front yard pecan trees.
It settled in a tripod formation, with several lesser branches supporting the main one. The limb needed to be cut up and moved to the curb, but it was potentially hazardous job — and not just for the use of a chainsaw.
The question: which branches to cut so that the big limb wouldn’t roll over and crush me? Having never experienced this exact problem, I searched my memory banks for an analogous situation.
Booby Trap is a board game featuring a spring-loaded panel. Players take turns removing pieces of different sizes as the spring provides increasing amounts of tension to the remaining pieces. Pull the wrong one and the spring snaps shut, sending pieces flying all over the room.
There’s a physics lesson there somewhere. And a lesson on risk-reward. The larger pieces earn more points, but they’re typically more crucial to the support structure.
I played a lot of Booby Trap as a child. In fact, I played all kinds of board games.
It was the distraction of choice for my brother, sisters and me growing up. As I continued to safely cut up the branches, I thought about board games.
With apologies to Robert Fulghum and his book “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten,” I could say much the same thing about board games.
Monopoly helped me understand the power of money. Namely, the more you have, the better. And too, owning property is typically better than renting. Truth: a new Monopoly set was the only thing I wanted as a wedding gift.
(In college, I learned that Monopoly can double as a creative drinking game. But that’s a story for another day — if only I could remember it.)
The Game of Life taught me that it’s sometimes better to be lucky than good. At the end of the game, no matter what your economic standing, you can take all your possessions and play a number. Hit it, and you win the game.
Life also offered the option to skip college and get a head start on the competition. College grads — even journalists — earned more money at Payday, but there was something neat about being the bad boy who skipped college and went to work
Life made you buy insurance and incur debt — heady concepts for a 6-year old. It also gave you a spouse and kids — in that order. If you were a boy, you started with a blue peg and you took a pink spouse. And vice-versa.
Risk! taught me that trust is a rare and valuable commodity. An ally will stab you in the back with alarming speed. Risk! also taught me why there’s always violence in the Middle East. It’s just too strategically important to ... everything.
The Ouija board taught me that demons really do exist, but I ain’t sweatin’ it. Lie Detector introduced me to the wonders of punch-card computer technology.
Facts in Five quickened my wit. Password developed my vocabulary.
At the same time, chess humbled me with the realization there are a whole lot of people out there who are smarter than I.
During my convalescence, I was reminded of the healing power of friendship when a friend brought a cribbage board to the house. Thanks, Tim!
As much as anything, board games taught me patience. Upsetting the board makes for a dramatic tantrum and offers the quickest way to terminate any game. But afterward, you’re alone with a mess to clean up.
One of my sisters recently sent me a 50th anniversary Risk! set complete with the original square, wood pieces in original colors. Ah, good times. Unfortunately, neither my wife nor I have successfully recreated a passion for board games in our children.
They have other distractions with video games and computers and cell phones. They’re techno-savvy, and I guess that’s a good thing. I only hope they never have to cut up a tree.
@BR Body Subhed:Prep football predictions
@BR Box Type bold lede colon:PEACH COUNTY (1-0) AT RUTLAND (1-0): Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Region opener for both teams. Rutland coach George Collins is 0-6 all time against the Trojans. Peach County 34, Rutland 13.
WEST LAURENS (1-0) AT PERRY (0-1): Friday, 7:30 p.m. Perry has a seven-game winning streak in this series. Former Warner Robins assistant Chad Simmons is in his first year as head coach at West Laurens. West Laurens 20, Perry 10.
VETERANS (0-1) AT MARY PERSONS (1-0): Friday, 7:30 p.m. After yielding more than 300 yards of passing offense to Cedar Grove, the Warhawks must contend with the running of Mary Persons back Ricardo Lines, who rushed for more than 250 yards and three touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ opener. Mary Persons 28, Veterans 6.
DOUGLAS COUNTY (0-1) AT WARNER ROBINS (0-1): Friday, 7:30 p.m. Both teams suffered shutout losses in their openers. Warner Robins 24, Douglas County 13.
WESTFIELD (1-0) AT EDMUND BURKE (1-0): Friday, 7:30 p.m. Potential trap for the Hornets between a big win over Tattnall and the start of region play. Westfield 33, Edmund Burke 7.
KENDRICK (0-1) AT NORTHSIDE (1-0): Saturday, 7:30 p.m. The Cherokees have just one winning season since they shared the Class AAA state title with Lakeside-Dekalb in 1991. Northside 44, Kendrick 0.
Contact Chris Deighan at cdeighan@cox.net
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