Like the Buffalo

A fair bit of travelling went on the past few days. Saturday, we went to Chocolate Bay and MegaChuck for more supplies. Sunday, after worship, it was to the cousin-in-law's for a FCC family reunion- good times! Monday it was off to St. Thomas for party time with Patience's family, and a farewell to nephew Jonah as he departed for points far west for continued studies.

It was Monday night that I learned that I was more like my father, The Buffalo, than I realized. We- FCC and I- arrived at Patience's at 10:30 PM, and were immediately sucked into a game of Bananas(TM). This is a game where one starts with eleven letter tiles selected from a central pile. Each player tries to use all the letters to make words which are interlinked like a crossword puzzle. As you use up the letters you call "pick" and everyone at the table has to draw a letter. If you want to return a letter to the central pile, you call "dump", and exchange letters- taking 3 letters for each 1 return. When there are no more letters in the central pile, and you have used all your letters, you call "bananas", and after verification of words, you are the winner (hurrah, and a tiger for you!) If, on the other hand, any of your words are successfully challenged, you are declared a "rotten banana", all your tiles are put into the Central pile, and play continues as you hang your head in shame.

Well, that is the plan.

I found that I had a lot more fun if I made up words to use up my tiles and called "bananas!" OK, so the letter I thought was a "n" was a "z", and "gis" is not the plural for a number of American soldiers, but I still assert that "hoves" is the plural of "hove." You know, the boat hove to, and the boats hoves to!

I was a rotten banana!

I may not have won, but I did have fun! I now understand why my father enjoyed cheating- er- creatively reinterpreting the rules for checkers.

Later, Mushers!