The first promise of spring arrived in the form of chirping robins, hungry for their worms. But the character of April is fickle, and it's best to keep your feet on solid ground until the Lady May arrives. April doesn't let go that easily.
In the Cottage,a tea kettle sings,the scent of cinnamon is in the air,and shadows from Aprils of the past are here for the taking. I reach deep into my scrapbag and pull a scrap with glistening,swirling marbles. The kind that children pull from their pockets. Tiger Eyes, steelies, swirlys and more. A colorful and innocent doorway to Aprils past.A circle drawn on the blacktop of the playground, or on cleared-off, packed-hard dirt beyond the cement. A stick to draw the circle, someone to play with. A shooter, and your bag of miggies. Watch out!..your friends warn,"don't put in your best marbles, nor you favorite." Don't subject them to 'lost'. Many a marble changes hands during recess.
My marble bag was full. And every once in awhile, nearly empty. I was a serious marble player!
A mesh bag of the shiny little globes, available for a dime, maybe a quarter. Just hit the local Ben Franklin or Woolworts. Prices seemed to change from year to yaar,
Finding marbles for your child isn't difficult, the jump ropes only slightly more so...but jacks, especially the metal ones, in the original size with their little red rubber ball, now that IS a challenge.
Marbles figured largely in my childhood, and I have them still. One of the few things to survive the years. I'm not sure what it is about marbles... the colors, the roundness *VBS* Maybe the cool glassy-ness, or the tendency to roll away from you.
Remember the frustation of the teacher, as one marble escaped and rolled across those wooden floor?? It sounded like a cannon ball in a quiet room. And then the embarrasment as you picked it up and placed it on the teachers desk until recess? Ah yes, some of the shadows being caught are a bit more gray than silver. Are there marbles in your life???
.JPG)
13 comments:
i hear ya...we are under severe storm watch. we are supposed to be getting 10-12" of heavy wet snow. like this is worse than regular snow?!! yeah it is from what i have been told...and alot of my yard was showing up...pretty soggy and squishey but at least it was a bit of color.
What a great post. I remember marbles too. My first little boyfriend, who let me choose from his marbles, the ones I would like to keep. I don't think the children of today play marbles? My Granddaughter didn't. I wonder if my little Grandson will?
Marbles, they were the cause of one of the only 2 fights I remember getting in when I was growing up.. A girlfriend and I were in my backyard playing marbles, when all the sudden she yelled "SOUPS" and snatched them all up. WELL, that wasn't to be, so I took them back the hard way, but none the less, she didn't get my MARBLES.......AHHHH, Memories***VBS**
How old was I, probably 10 or so, the only other fight I remember was with the same girl, we were in 7th. grade, thie time more serious, a BOY was involved..LOL
Have great memories, J
Ah, wonderful memories..I enjoyed playing jacks so much. My sister and I would play forever. Living in the country it was rare to have friends over...but when they came we played jacks and pick-up-sticks (the wooden kind).
Thanks for the pleasant thoughts floating around in my head now.
Perhaps, when I go to bed I will have dreams of this nature.
Hugs from Amelia in Oklahoma
Great post. My nephew is at the marble stage now. Brought back lots of memories. Thank you.
I used to love the feel of them, rolling them round in my pocket. I used to have a huge swirly that I kept for what seems like forever. Wonder what happened to it. Alexandra now has her own set. Not played with any more, but kept "just in case".
Whatever happened to jacks? The smell of the red ball. Skipping ropes are still around, but not with the wooden handles and those tiny ball bearings round the top.
I enjoyed your post. I was never one for playing marbles but I sure did like to collect them. Remember the jewelry we made from cracked marbles?
Jacks and Jumpropes - two of my all time favorite toys growing up. How about the big jumpropes at recess where 2 or 3 people could jump at the same time. Cinderella, dressed in yellow....
I was just wondering the other day what ever happened to my marbles! LOL I never played but collected them from the boys and had a nice jar full. My grandson has some but he just looks at them and rolls them around.
One class I was in, the teacher had a huge jar full on her desk. If one got dropped or in anyway showed up in class, she took it and in the jar it went. At the end of the year, we had a drawing and some lucky kid got the jar to take home.
I kept my marbles in a Prince Albert tobacco can and so did a lot of kids. What I wouldn't do to have that now.
Woolworths! The treasure trove of all things shiny and delightful in my girlhood *s* Marbles were not as popular when I grew up but certainly jumpropes and jacks were high on the list of activities *s* What great memories - and I'm happy to know that Finn never lost her marbles *vbg*
When I was in junior high, marbles and jacks made a resurgence. My group of girlfriends and I were caught up in the craze. We spent hours at each other's houses playing jacks and calling boys!
I was more of a jacks girl myself. My brothers were the marble fanatics. My dad even made the coolest leather marble bags for them.
But jacks....... onsies, twosies, threesies. I was good at that!
I was really good at jacks, hop scotch and tether ball. I suspect I was good at tether ball because I was always the tallest :) Still, I was the best and they can't take that away from me!
You bring me back to W. T. Grant's where the little mesh bags of 24 marbles cost 21 cents and the big jar of bubbles was only 12 cents. I picked the marbles and lost them every time. Both my brothers were older and better at gewtting my perfect "shooters" while we stood at the corner bus stop waiting to go to school. Next time, I would get the paper dolls.
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