Carole King Was SOOOOO Right!

o/`o/`
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose
And most times you choose between the two
Wonderin', wonderin' if you have made it
o/`o/`
Carole King - "Sweet Seasons" - 1971

One of the things that Sojourners do is play games - two or three nights a week.  There is "Pegs and Jokers" which is like Aggravation using cards instead of points.  Each player has 5 pegs which begin at "home."  To get out of home and onto the board takes a face card, an ace, or a joker. A 7 card can be split between 2 of the players pegs out on the board moving each forward for a total of 7 spots. An 8 card moves one peg 8 spots backward.  A 9 can be split (but doesn't HAVE to be) between 2 of the players peg with one moving forward and the other backward.  Together the moves must equal 9.  Jokers do LOTS of different things.  Anyway, Irene and I, the Blairs and the Lucases played a game last night - the men against the women.  The men got drubbed.  

On to another game - Something called "Arkansas Rummy."  Irene and I had never played this bizarre little ditty.  The game consists of  11 hands.  You can have flushes (3 or more consecutive cards of the same suit) or 3 (or more) of the same cards (3s, 4s, 9s, etc). You begin with 3 cards in the first hand. 4 in the second, 5 in the third, etc. until you get 13 cards.  That isn't all.  In the first hand 3s are wild; then 4s in the second; 5s in the third, etc. along with jokers.  Its played with 7 or 8 decks shuffled together.  Each player plays as an individual.  There's a lot more rules but this gives you an idea that this is a crazy game.  Oh yea, Jokers can substitute for ANY card in a flush or same card groups.  BUT the bottom line is that even though this game is played as individual NOT teams, the 3 women ALL had lower scores than the 3 men.  

We didn't even have time to have the women (probably) pummel us in "Hand and Foot."

I had to beat Irene twice in Scrabble to re-establish Domestic Order this morning.

This afternoon I took a 4 mile walk.  Part of it was in what USED to be the "Nature Trail" here at Camp Bee.  When they clear cut about 20 acres last summer, they had to close the trail.  But I walked it today and got some pictures for you all.

The first is the farm BEHIND Camp Bee.  It a beautiful cut alfalfa field with some out buildings behind it.

The next is a picture of the soil here at Camp Bee.  You can see it is very red.  This is iron which oxidizes (rusts) in soil.

The tree below looks lethal.  Look at the thorns on this bad boy!  It might be a Locust tree.  I'm not sure if it is a Honey Locust or a Black Locust:

Here is a evergreen that we all probably know - a Holly Bush:

Finally, you know all that "rusty" looking soil in the picture above. What do you think it makes water look like when it gets into it?  Rusty you say!  Look here: