Playing jacks - Life List #14
Tuesday, December 28, 2010 at 7:28AM 
Few pastimes remind me of childhood as much as playing jacks. Climbing trees, roller skating, tying daisy chains, riding bikes, swimming, catching lightning bugs. All of that too.
But playing jacks holds a special place, though I'm not entirely sure why. I remember playing with my mother, down on the orange linoleum floor of our 1970s-style kitchen, the metal jacks spread out before us, the bounce bounce bouncing of the ball. Plucking the jacks one by one or sweeping a triumphant handful of fivesies, sixies, sevensies.
I spent hours, countless hours, practicing alone, a solitary game of concentration and repetition.
It was something I could not wait to share with my own children, much like sitting in the grass, picking through clover and tying flower chains. This Christmas, I finally did when Santa left a nostalgic tin of metal jacks beneath the tree for Esme. After the excitement of Josephine's costume trunk wore off and before Kent installed the batteries in Esme's new camera, we sat on the dining room floor and played together.
Josephine flitted in and out between costume changes while Buzz Lightyear rocketed Desmond to infinity and beyond. We played game after game and finally took a break when Esme managed her way from onesies to fivesies.
It wasn't long before someone else sat down, ready to learn.
Reader Comments (3)
Once again, you have a lovely narrative that includes beautiful and interesting photographs (I like the angled view with some of them interspersed with the others). Your use of the photos is an integral part of the story that packs such a nice "punch" (as "It wasn't long before someone else sat down...") I hope you don't mind my enjoyment critique :)
On the subject of marbles: I've always loved them, too, and we had jars of marbles that were used for things other than the official marbles games. There's a nice story about a boy playing marbles... and brownies... in the Golden Book of Elves and Fairies. I loved it as a child and with my children, and I found the book on Amazon recently. I've photocopied the pages of poems and put them up on the Children's Fence Site this past summer. Glad to lend it if you want!
Oooh jacks! I remember jacks. The very best game ever...
B
I have no idea why -- because I loved playing all sorts of games a kid, from board games to marbles, but I DO NOT know how to play jacks. For some reason, I seem to remember that they were considered a "girl's game." Now, I'm curious and going to google it!