Tag Archives: Joyce

Day 325: Charades

25 Feb

This morning my husband, daughter, and I went for our customary walk up Wimer Street.  As we turned off Wimer onto Wright’s Creek we passed a man walking with his dog.  He looked very familiar but I could not place him right away.  It was only after he was long gone from our view that I realized that he was one of the guests at our friends, George and Joyce’s, annual Charades Competition – which coincidentally was being held tonight.

My husband and I had not played Charades until we were invited to the annual competition a few years ago… and we needed a bit of help to get the hang of it.  Once we were primed though, it was quite a lot of fun and we’ve been delighted to be invited back to play three years in a row.

For tonight’s competition we were asked to bring a gift for the prize table.  Prizes are usually awarded in a number of categories, for example, the fastest male and female players, the best overall score, the most expressive contestant.  For our contribution to the prize table I brought a homemade treat…  a Pecan Pie.

When we arrived tonight I saw Jeff, the man that we had seen earlier in the day, and I found myself on his team for the “tournament.”  And what a challenging game it was!  There were some pretty tough clues to act out including: The Outlaw Josie Wales, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Thurgood Marshall, and others.  Sometimes the clues were guessed rather quickly, and other times it took much, much longer. But it didn’t matter if we won or lost, it was so much fun to be a part of this very creative evening.

After the last clues had been played, the “winners” were announced and Jeff was recognized as the “fastest” man to act out a clue.  He went up to the prize table and saw the pie and asked incredulously, “Can I really take this?” And that is how Jeff became pie recipient 325-  simply because of his skill at Charades.  And really, isn’t it just as good a reason as any?

The most thoroughly wasted of all days is that on which one has not laughed. Nicolas Chamfort

 

 

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Day 144: George

28 Aug

Last night our friend George had a party for his house. That may sound strange – but what you need to know this – George’s house had just turned 100 years old. Imagine that. Not many of us have homes that are more than a few decades old, and yet George and his wife Joyce are living in a house that was built a hundred years ago!

We met George when we needed his services as an historical preservationist. That was more than fifteen years ago. Since that time we have learned that if you want to know anything about the history of this region, then you need to speak with George. History is his passion as well as his livelihood.

My husband and I consider ourselves lucky because not only is George a colleague; he and his wife Joyce are also our friends. Our families have spent a fair amount of time together over the years: we’ve attended concerts, we’ve played charades, we’ve compared parenting stories, and shared dinners. Life is good when you have friends that are really more like family.

Today I began making an Apple Blackberry Pie and knew that it would find its way to George’s house. I began by preparing the crust and getting the apples and berries ready.

Once the fruit was ready, I placed it into the crust and then into the oven. A short time later, I was trying to move the pie up onto the top shelf of the oven when the pie tin buckled under the weight of the fruit. Some of it spilled onto the door of the oven and it looked like this:

I let out a few words that I won’t print here but fortunately I was able to repair the pie with a bit more crumb topping and by the time it was baked it looked much more presentable. When I delivered the pie to George, he had only good things to say about it. It’s funny how what seemed like a disaster at the time, turned out alright in the end. Yet another reason for me to be grateful.

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