The Game of Life

Normally I read and think about life. Lately I've been playing the game of Life. I think I would rather be reading.

After all, the actual board game is not very realistic. If you choose to bypass college, you pretty much get an instant paycheck. If you choose the college path, you graduate with a guaranteed job to go along with that instant paycheck. Oh, and pay raises are $10,000 a pop. And for each new baby each player has to give you $5,000. There may be things along the way that decrease your funds... tonight, for instance, a tornado wiped out my mobile home and I had to pay $120,000... waaay more than the place was worth. In the end, though, all of us playing retired with well over a million dollars. If only that were true.

Maybe I should write about If My Life Were A Board Game. The first game that comes to mind in that case would be Sorry! Just like the game, I can feel like I'm moving along at a good pace when suddenly somebody (or something) gives me the boot back to Start Here. Or Battleship, one of my all-time favorites. I think it must be the strategy that comes after a little guess work with that game... that and the somewhat strangely satisfying feeling that comes with sinking the other guy's ship. Makes me feel like I've accomplished something. I like that.

Life is not a board game, though. It certainly doesn't clean up as easy as one. I think I'll stick to books. Sometimes I look at my daily life and compare it with whatever I'm reading. It's not as crazy as it sounds. Tonight I cooked a casserole for supper simply because the book I just finished had a mom doing the same thing. I loved how something so simple had such a wonderful description. Words like "bubbling" and "warm from the oven" made me want to bring it to life. Often I wonder how any particular event (in real life) might be described if it was put into words and printed in black and white. There really is something magical about the written word.

As for the game of Life? Well, I suppose there is a certain magic to that, too. My husband was a lawyer boasting about all his money when the opportunity arose for me to sue him. Twice.

The little things that make me smile.