The days have tipped and spilled over into March. Falling like cards in a never ending game of 52 Pick Up. You know, the card game where someone, like your brother, asks you if you want to play 52 Pick Up? You say YES and he throws all the cards to the ground. Then he tells you to pick them up. I wanted to kill my brother! Okay, maybe kill is too harsh a word, but I definitely considered some form of bodily injury as he leered and laughed at my indignant card gathering. Of course, that didn't stop me from finding an unsuspecting victim of my own as soon as possible.
Did get you get tricked into that game when you were a kid? It's one of those things you only fall for once. Unlike Snipe hunting. I think we fell for that one a couple of times before we figured out that my aunt and uncle were sucking down High Balls and having a great laugh at our expense. Who needs to spend money on entertainment when you have a few gullible, Gumby-brained kids you can send out on fools errands.
(A typical family scene at Our House)
Auntie Dot, we're bored. What can we do?
Hmm...clean your room? Wash the dishes? No? Okay...hows about going Snipe hunting?
What are Snipes, Auntie Dot?
Oh, they're these really rare albino worms that are worth a lot of money. You find yourself one of those and you can buy $5 worth of candy. Yeah, the good stuff like those Tootsie Rolls and Pixie Stix that you like.
Really?
Sure, kid! Here. You guys take these brown paper bags. Sneak, real quite like, over there to that tall grass by the swing set. Lie on your belly about 10 feet away and Army crawl closer. Open your bag and lay it on its side. Then you wait. Take these nails with you too. Lay them in front of the bags. The Snipes are attracted to them because they use them to build their house. That'll keep you busy for a while...I mean, it takes a long time to catch 'em so you have to be r-e-a-l patient. Every once in a while, you have to call them like this:
" Here, Snipe-Snipe. Here, Snipe-Snipe."
Hey, can you bring me and Uncle Red that bag of chips before you go hunting? No, not those... the B-B-Q ones. Thanks. Run a long now and don't come back till you catch one.
Did get you get tricked into that game when you were a kid? It's one of those things you only fall for once. Unlike Snipe hunting. I think we fell for that one a couple of times before we figured out that my aunt and uncle were sucking down High Balls and having a great laugh at our expense. Who needs to spend money on entertainment when you have a few gullible, Gumby-brained kids you can send out on fools errands.
(A typical family scene at Our House)
Auntie Dot, we're bored. What can we do?
Hmm...clean your room? Wash the dishes? No? Okay...hows about going Snipe hunting?
What are Snipes, Auntie Dot?
Oh, they're these really rare albino worms that are worth a lot of money. You find yourself one of those and you can buy $5 worth of candy. Yeah, the good stuff like those Tootsie Rolls and Pixie Stix that you like.
Really?
Sure, kid! Here. You guys take these brown paper bags. Sneak, real quite like, over there to that tall grass by the swing set. Lie on your belly about 10 feet away and Army crawl closer. Open your bag and lay it on its side. Then you wait. Take these nails with you too. Lay them in front of the bags. The Snipes are attracted to them because they use them to build their house. That'll keep you busy for a while...I mean, it takes a long time to catch 'em so you have to be r-e-a-l patient. Every once in a while, you have to call them like this:
" Here, Snipe-Snipe. Here, Snipe-Snipe."
Hey, can you bring me and Uncle Red that bag of chips before you go hunting? No, not those... the B-B-Q ones. Thanks. Run a long now and don't come back till you catch one.
We could hear thier laughter as we tip toed out to the grass. They were so happy for us.
*************************************************************************************
Well, of course, we never caught a Snipe because it was a goose hunt, an impossible imaginary task. And what does this have to do with March? Not much, really. Except that at this point in my life, it feels as if the days fall endlessly to the ground. I am forever trying to pick them all up but I can't because they just keep falling. The spring that once seemed impossibly far away is almost here. And spring is the best time of year for Snipe hunting.
Oh, you don't know about Snipes? How about Pie Stretchers? Well, it's too early for pie stretching, that's best done in summer. Let me show you how to catch a Snipe.
26 comments:
Haha . .my mum used to tell us to go and play in the traffic with a bread knife! No snipe hunting over here but I catch your drift. As for the days rolling by. I hear you. I used to think it was because I was getting older but the kids agree, life goes too fast these days. I haven't done my income tax from last June yet! GAH.
My best wheeeze for something similar, was getting the kids to 'paint' on the hot concrete sides of our coal bunker, or garden path - they could draw/paint to their hearts content, as the new brush srokes showed dark, until the sun dried them, and the whole process coud begin again. Was that mean, or what?!
Tootsie rolls rock!
I always thought snipes were a kind of bird. No wonder we never caught any!
I'd not heard of 52 pick up before, though it sounds like something my brother would have known and used.
I never fell for the snipe thing. I was pretty gullible though! My older step brother used to often wake me up at midnight and tell me that it was time to get ready for school! LOL
you mean snipes aren't real...i'v watsed 36 years looking for them...oh no...
HAAA! Got my baby brother on that game sooooo many times; the mook!
And snipe hunting? Hee, heeeee!
Try as you may, Ronda, I still believe in snipes, but your post was good fun anyway
Oh yeah, 52 Pickup. Your writing brings back some memories of my brother and me as kids. We were staying at other people's houses here and there. Finding things to do to have fun left us on our own. We would find sticks and old newspapers and make kites. The story of your foxy aunt and uncle sending you snipe hunting is great, and should be inspiring today's parents to send their kids snipe hunting instead of being in front of the XBox or TV.
This brought back memories, Ronda! I happen to have a crazy but lovable cousin, Kenny, who took all of us girls snipe hunting. We were country girls and he was a city boy, so we had no idea what he was up to. Anyway, we figured it out pretty quickly, standing in that dark field looking for imaginary snipes. Thank goodness for flashlights. Fun times.
I love this. I wish I had known of snipes when my daughter was growing up.
RnPB: Ch 013 - Clean Up
I had never heard of Snipes until I watched the movie UP.
Thanks for sharing this cute story :)
I remember that one fateful time I fell for 52 Pick Up! And Snipe Hunting--someone tried it on me, but a kindly grown-up ratted out the dissembling...
Ha! I don't remember the first time I fell for it, but I remember when I got my little cousin.
She cried and then tattled and my aunt made me pick up the cards myself. I'm going to go email my coz right now and reminder of that - little brat that she was! :)
My mom used tell us to play in traffic too, but yours was quite inventive with the addition of the bread knife. Taxes, yikes!...must do them.
Jinksy: No, not mean. Some times the little beggars just need something to do. Quite creative, actually.
NanU: Snipes are a bird. But for some reason, these types of snipes are code for imaginary tasks.
Dave: Maybe your brother would fall for it still today.
Otin: Still laughing about the tale of "Midnight School Boy."
Brian: I don't think you've been looking in quite the right place for those Snipes. I think if you go over one more tree to the left and wait...
Subby: Oh, your poor mook brother. Maybe he'd still fall for the Snipe hunt.
Lorenzo: Glad you enjoyed.
TechnoBabe: I had forgotten about making the kites out of newspaper and sticks. That was so much fun.
Dorraine: I can just see you girls out there, in the dark looking for snipes while your cousin, Kenny, snickers on the side.
Nessa: You could still get her!
Megan R: I haven't seen UP. I'll have to watch it now that I know snipes are in it.
Leah: Lucky for you that adult clued you in. Hedgie might enjoy a good hunt.
Megan: Ha! I would love to know what your cousin says when you remind her of that one. Everyone know that 52 Pick Up is a fair game. If you get caught, you get caught.
Haha, apparently my mother was a legendary snipe hunter in her family!
Tattytiara: Your mother must be about my age. I would love to hear from a legend.
Being one of the older siblings means that me and my older sister got all the younger ones with the 52 card pick up and then I got my kids, my grandkids, different neices and nephews, friends of all of them have gotten caught too.
I love 52 card pick up, it is the best card game ever.
Oh all right, I am just dang gone it out right mean. What can I say it is still funny as hell to get someone.
And trying to do this organzing thingy is taking forever. Last night I got about 1 box organized and only have about 1000 more to go. Maybe by next year I will be done. That dang tax lady is really the one who is bugging me about getting her the info she needs, and making me do this work.
Okay, just stopping by to say Hi and then back to the grindstone. Being sick at the same time is not helping.
God bless.
No snipe hunting here... we have all learned our lesson on that one. LOL
How funny, you made me giggle out loud, AND remember that stupid card game that my brother also played on me :-)
Ha!! I remember that gag! Funny, this post made me remember this little gadget we had = a yellow frisbee-like disk called a Round Tuit. Once you had one of these, you could never say you didn't do something because you hadn't gotten "around to it."
Sherry: I can just see you snagging all your kids and grandkids on 52 Pick Up and loving every minute of it. May your sickness end quickly and the same for your organizing.
Together: No Snipes? Well, maybe you can start a tradition.
Gemel: Happy to give you a smile today.
JGH: Ha! I remember the round Tuit. That was a fun idea too.
Oh Ronda, the memories you've brought about! I didn't have brothers, only two younger sisters, but it was my dad who was, and still is, the prankster in our family. I never fell for any of his tricks because he couldn't hold back his snicker long enough, but my poor middle sister has always been so gullible, she fell for everything. To this day my dad gets her good on April Fool's somehow or another. Last year she actually remembered what day it was and didn't answer the phone at all, until about 10 that night. In our family, a phone call after 9 PM means someone has probably died, so you have to answer. Well, it was Daddy who called her, no one had died, but because she was afraid someone had she forgot what day it was and he got her good - told her someone had offered him an unheard of amount for his house and property, which wasn't even for sale. Yep, she fell for it, hook, line and sinker. :)
Thanks for bringing back the memories and a smile.
And thanks for letting me know I placed in the EU contest! I didn't even know until I read your comment last night.
Oh yea, I forgot to say - when our parents wanted us out of the way, they didn't try to trick us, they just said "go outside", then locked the door behind us. We had to find our own entertainment for the next few hours until we were allowed back in. I've always wondered if that's what made me appreciate the outdoors so much. You'd think it would be the other way around though.
Deanna: It seems that there's always a prankster in every family. I was usually gullible too. Not as much as your sister but still, I could be had. My cousin, Delinda, was the one that got me up to speed in the practical joke department. She was quick. I'm still laughing about your parents way of having quiet time. It would seem that you would not like the outdoors as much but it definitely must have given you some free time too.
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