ode to the marble...

...a mini marble at that

found in my this 'n that jar... don't you have one of those? you know - it's sort of like a junk drawer - includes bits of things you're not quite sure you want to be rid of - not certain where they should go... so you have this special jar or container for them...

when i moved recently, i was sorting through mine - came upon this mini marble... and i mean mini - it's no larger, in fact a mite smaller - than my little fingernail... really itty-bitty! i found it waaaay back during my college years - on some excursion or other and was very intrigued - somehow it's followed me around all these years... plus i've always been fascinated by marbles in general - who knows when they originated actually - back in the stone ages with pebbles and bits of clay probably - and like anything else have evolved over the years into what we have today... along with a huge assortment of games throughout the world - and various terminology to suit... remember some of these?

-knuckle down... the position adopted at the start line at the beginning of a match - begin with your knuckle against the ground
-quitsies... allows any opponent to stop the game without consequence - can either have quitsies (able to quit) or no quitsies
-keepsies (or for keeps)... the player keeps all the marbles he or she wins
-elephant stomps... when called, it allows a player to stomp his/her marble level with the ground surface - making it very difficult for other players to hit the marble
-bombies... when called, allows a player to take 1-2 steps while holding his/her marble - normally closing one eye will line up over one of the opponents marble and drop the marble trying to hit the marble on the ground
-leaning tops... when called, a shooter leans in on his/her off hand for leverage over an indentation on any type of surface or obstacle
-a taw or shooter is a larger marble used to shoot with... ducks are marbles to be shot at...

that all sure brings back memories - of me and my brothers playing around in our childhood home - in the basement - marbles out, all lined up... ready for battle... we were all so competitive - those were the days - memories... looking back - giving ode - always makes for...

a

happy day.....