Community News

FAMILY HAD LITTLE USE FOR BOX OF DOMINOES

MARY COOK Mary is a longtime writer with several books in print and in electronic format. 'Mary Cook's Memories' appears as a regular column.

Mother was talking into the phone on the wall, and we knew it was to Mr. Briscoe at Briscoe's General Store. There were long pauses. Finally, she said she would send someone right away to pick it up.

Whatever it was, it had arrived in the mail, and it sounded like Mr. Briscoe was anxious to get it out of the store.

Mr. Briscoe told Mother a parcel had arrived with the morning mail from Aunt Freda from Chicago, and he didn't like the sound of it. He said it rattled, and he hoped it wasn't something that would explode, and the sooner it was out of the store the better.

Father's sister, more often than not, sent things that had no earthly use to us out there on the farm. Like the silk pyjamas she sent Father. — he slept in his long underwear — or the matching silk robe that came later. Father had no idea what it was but wondered if it was something he could wear to church on Easter Sunday!

So, Everett hitched up the cutter and headed out to Briscoe's General Store. Mother told him to bring back a tin of baking powder ... no sense in not making good use of the trip.

"Put it on my bill," she hollered as Everett swung the cutter out of the yard.

Well, it certainly was an odd-looking box he returned with, and whatever was inside did rattle. Emerson said he was scared it might indeed be a bomb, so he stood well away near the ice box while Mother took the scissors to it. It was a box, longer than wide, and when she took the lid off there were small rectangle black squares inside.

We had never seen anything like it. "Dominoes," Mother said. "Haven't seen those since I left New York."

Well, none of us had EVER seen them. Mother said Dominoes was a game, but she hadn't played it for years, and had no idea how to even start.

Emerson came back over from the ice box and had a good look. "I think you are supposed to build something with them," he offered. Everett said he thought you were to try to put the pieces together matching the dots.

I could see a fight starting to brew. Mother could too, so she put the pieces back in the box, handing it to Earl. He sat down at the table, and right away he built the blocks up one on top of the other. Emerson wasn't at all happy and gave the table a good shove with his knee, and down went whatever Earl was trying to build.

Mother gathered up the pieces, put them back in the box, and took it into her and Father's bedroom off the kitchen, no doubt where it would spend time with the silk robe and pyjamas sent long ago by Aunt Freda.

Interested in an electronic version of Mary's books? Go to https:// www.smashwords.com and type Maryrcook for ebook purchase details, or if you would like a hard copy, please contact Mary at wick2@sympatico.ca.

OPINION

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2023-03-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://communitynews.pressreader.com/article/281535115235995

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