Way back in the 50’s we had this game of marbles. Cousin and I would draw a large circle in the dirt. Each player would then put the same number of marbles inside this circle. The object of the game was to knock marbles out of the circle. Each marble you knocked out you would keep. The way you would shoot your favorite marble was quite simple. The player would put his marble in the crook of the index finger. Then with his thumb, he would give that marble a shove. This would send that marble flying and hopefully knock another out of the circle. If you succeeded in knocking one out, you could go again. If not, then it’s the other players turn. This game would go on until someone was tired of loosing their marbles. Because I didn’t have a job or much money, I just used an old sock for my marble bag. Now a days, I have some of those nice blue bags with a gold string. Boy I wish I had those way back when. But I just drink what was in the bottle and gently put the bag away. It was probably best Dad didn’t buy Crown Royal in those days. We would have surely tried it just to keep the bag. But anyway, we finally moved out of Strong and went to the farm in Livermore Falls. Somewhere along the way, I lost my sock full of marbles. I blamed that on one of my brothers. They were always taking “my stuff” and trading them with my cousins for other stuff. I still have a few marbles but not a sock full as I used to have.
Now, there are some of you folks out there that may have the opinion I surely did loose my marbles. I assure you I do still have the most of my faculties. (at least I think I do). Well enough of that, let’s get on with the story and you be the judge. Living alone as I do and being frugal as I am, I need only a few luxuries to be comfortable. One thing I do not need is a dining room table. They just tend to gather papers. I used to have one of those thick pine tables but used it for firewood. I went table less for quite some time. I also got rid of my refrigerator and the big kitchen electric stove. You see they all consume electricity, which, I have to pay for. Because I am trying to be retired and on a fixed income, I get rid of stuff such as that. You know, stuff that costs me money. My reasoning is quite simple for getting rid of the refrigerator. You see, most people buy stuff just because they can save fifteen to twenty cents. They then store this in the frig or freezer. Three or four days later, they take it out and eat it. After cooking if necessary, of course. But they do not realize that it cost them more than twenty cents to keep it frozen those many days. So I just wait until I have the urge and go buy it that day. You may ask yourself about leftovers. What do I do about that? Well, there ain’t none. I am very poor on dealing with leftovers. I have tried it a few times and the ending was always the same. I open the frig and see this green stuff growing and wonder what was that? So, I throw it to the critters outside. I gently remind myself that I just spent money to keep this stuff cool and now I am throwing it away. So now I just throw leftovers out when they become leftovers. By doing it this way, I just saved some money. You now ask yourself, what about that big four burner electric stove. The answer to that is even simpler. It cost money to run it. Even though I do love nice hot yeast rolls and home stew it becomes a problem. A nice hot stew is great on those cold winter’s day. But a cold winter’s day requires chores to be done. Retired and be darn, to stay warm someone needs to still carry in the wood and shovel the snow. I don’t know about you folks but being outside for a long time a nice hot stew sounds just right. So, I start the stew and put the rolls in the oven and feel just right. Eagerly I sit down to watch the tv and wait for the rolls and stew. All of a sudden, two or three hours later, something just doesn’t smell right. It doesn’t take long to figure the situation out. The stove has burned my fabulous meal. Out goes the stew, out goes the rolls and out goes the stove. Microwave it will be from now on. At least, that has a timer and I can reset my meal for another minute or so. As time goes by and being the nice guy I am, I try to help others once in a while. Three of my sisters one time or another have lived with me. They may have been having a tough time and I tried to help them over the bumps and through the valleys. That is what brothers are for. Just recently, about three years ago, I invited one of my sisters to come to Rangeley and live. This was a bonus for me. She liked to cook and split wood and shovel snow. She even agreed to help pay for some of the monthly bills. This was awesome. I like keeping my money and I like eating freshly cooked food. Well sister frowned a little bit about not having a frig or a stove to cook on. My brother gave us a second-hand stove and we ended up with a frig. The problem with the stove is there was a mouse house in the stove insulation. Every time she would try to cook rolls, the stove had a most unpleasant odor. Out the stove went. I broke down and bought a brand-new stove. I think this is the second time I actually paid money for a new stove. But I was yearning for hot rolls and some nice sour dough biscuits. Things went well for a few years. Sister got in the wood, shoveled the snow and cooked the meals. The only problem I had was, she killed three snow blowers. I had to ban her from even touching my snowblower. Now, I was even nice to this last sister. I shoveled out a section in the daylight basement and called that my cave. She could have the rest of the house all to herself. See how nice I was. But now, she has moved out. As it is with every female that has lived here, they leave stuff. I give them all, each and every one a time limit and then the stuff is gone. So now, I have a table, a stove and a frig that is going to disappear. I do this just to help keep my sanity, what I have left anyway. I just don’t like the smell of burned boiled eggs.
Now ya all may think I have indeed lost all of my marbles. I assure you I have not. I still have three marbles left. They are the old clay ones from way back when. I have to keep them just so I can say “I have not lost my marbles “. Maybe I lost most of them, but every time I open one of those blue bags with the gold string, I am happy happy again.
Have a great weekend folks. Ken W mountainman… crazy I may be. But happier I am
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