Up for a game of cards ....

As my mother tells the story, when I was a young girl let's say 4 years old and lived next door to my 7 cousins, they would come over and play Old Maid with me. The catch was that they had to let me think that the "winner" was the one left with the old maid so that I wouldn't be driven to tears. (Now I could digress here about the use of "old maid" in general but I'll save that for another post.)

Well I don't run away and cry when I lose at card games anymore, but I am a fierce competitor.  Card games have been a staple of entertainment with our family and close friends as long as I can remember.  Our summers in Killarney with the Zamiskas we were introduced to the Canadian card game Wizard.  I was recently talking with a colleague and he mentioned he is working with the inventor of Wizard - I look forward to seeing what evolves there :-)  One of my memories of Wizard is auditory because you trump others plays with the Wizard card.  And my brother Stephen and our friend Paul Zamiska both had their own "Wizard inflections" that let you (and everyone in the cottage) know you were trumped. Great memories and hours of entertainment.

Perfect "Go Alone" hand

As an adult, the cottage card playing has evolved to Euchre, where you play in pairs more similar to bridge, with trumps and set suits, however the jokers are involved . I like the strategy component of Euchre and being paired with  someone well versed in the game as the rules are many...lol.  And even though you play in pairs depending on the hand you're dealt sometimes a partner can decide to go it alone. Let's just say choosing the right partner, as with other areas of life, is very important :-)


It seems the older I get the more complicated the rules get - what's up with that?  I'm seeing Old Maid again in my future .... the card game that is !