Judy Price is Writing

The other evening I met with a group on a cold winter’s night, in an even colder ‘billiard’ pub, to reacquaint myself with the card game of ‘euchre’.

In the family home, my father and brothers taught me how to play that particular game, along with ‘cribbage’, and invariably when we gathered for Sunday family dinners, afterward a card game would ensue.

Or perhaps we’d enjoy a game of ‘dart throwing’,  the board game of ‘monopoly’, usually on a rainy day, or whatever was age appropriate and popular at the time.

Unless, of course, there was a more important game playing on the television.  That being either ‘golf, baseball, hockey or football’.

In the summer months we would play a game of ‘horseshoes’ or ‘lawn darts’ in the backyard.

There were other outdoor games that I played as a child. 

‘Hide and seek’ was a wonderful one in my neighbourhood where wide open spaces ruled, with no fencing to restrict us from finding the ideal cover to fool our friends.

‘Tag’ and ‘softball’ were always popular choices.

It wasn’t until later at pre-teen parties that I learned the ‘game’ of ‘spin the bottle’.

Prior to that I found out that boys liked to play ‘doctor’ with girls, and ‘show and tell’  became a very popular game, both at home and at school. 

The kind of classroom demonstration greatly differed from the home variety, I might add. 

As a teen, I began to realize that both boys and some of the girls played other kinds of games.

‘Flirting’ became the norm for both sexes. 

‘Scoring’ with girls was the ‘goal’ for most boys, unlike the majority of girls in that generation who, in fact, wore the ‘virgin pin’ (a circular brooch) as a symbol of purity or badge of honour.

The girls who did play along gained an ‘unsavoury’ reputation, unlike the guys, who were characterized as ‘cool’; a prime example of the double standard for females versus males. 

Today, the ‘game of love’ is described as how men and women pursue, catch, and either release or keep a ‘match’. 

Depending who the ‘players’ are, ‘love’ might not be the correct word usage in this particular ‘game’. 

There are countless other games that people play ‘politically’, ‘economically’ in business, and of course ‘socially’ in the media.

‘Celebrity’ itself could be characterized as a game.

‘One-up-man-ship’ is a very popular ‘psychological game’, similar to ‘keeping up with the Jones’s', only without the materialistic intent.

Outdoing one another in a game of ‘wits’ is the object of this particular behaviour, thereby boosting one’s own self-esteem at the expense of the other’s.

Of course there are numerous games that people play, either alone or in the company of others, in and out of the ‘casino’, the ‘bedroom’, the ‘courtroom’, on or off the ‘court’, the ‘course’, in and out of the ‘pool’ , the ’sea’, and all manner of other venues.

Whether to ‘play’ or not  is an individual choice.

A ‘rule of thumb’ to keep in mind; without a ’player’ there is no ‘game’.

Just when I thought, “What’s the point?”  I found a reason to watch the Super Bowl tomorrow!

Normally, I look forward to this ‘game of the season’. 

Not this year. 

With other world events that seem to trivialize sports by comparison, at least for me, this will prove to be more than a good distraction after all. 

Shaun Suisham, although some spell his name Sean, will be kicking for the Steelers. 

And the ‘kicker’; he is Canadian! (pun intended) !!

Now, for all those Americans who thought the CFL meant the U.S.A. ‘college football league’, we, north of your border, do know the game of football! 

Some of the rules differ, that is all. 

Personally, I find your game more strategically exciting. 

The CFL is actually the Canadian Football League, although Shaun was never part of it. 

Being such an illustrious high school player in the Ontario small town of Wallaceburg, Shaun received a football scholarship which took him to the states.

The rest is his history as the saying goes, and tomorrow, who knows!

There may be more history in the making.

I, for one proud Canadian, will be watching!!

Recently, I was reminded of ‘fishing’ analogies.

Thought I would review one of these here.

“Catch and release” is a popular phrase which used to refer to the sport of fishing, not for food, but rather for fun.  Bait/lure, hook, unhook and release. 

No harm done other than losing the bait/lure, piercing the  mouth, terrifying and teaching the creature to steer clear of lures/baited hooks!

Today this term refers to the ‘game’ of dating, and normally to the way men ‘catch’ women and when finished with them, let them go or ‘release’ them.

That is, supposedly, until he finds himself a ‘keeper’.

However, I would surmise that men who have been in the ‘game’ for a lengthy period of time might not even realize when they have ‘caught’ themselves a ‘prize’ worth keeping.

For these men the thrill is momentary, regardless of which woman is ‘caught’!

I know of a male author/speaker who addresses women, incorporating the word ‘catch’ in his work.

However, he is purporting to teach women how to ‘catch’ and ‘keep’, as opposed to ‘release’, a man (singular).

Now, does anyone else see the problem here, the double standard if you will, or is it just me!!

Perhaps if these opposing male perspectives were reversed and male experts advised women to ‘catch and release’ men, while they taught men the art of how to ‘catch and keep’ a woman, the sexes might be able to more readily meet in the middle where some real relationship fun could begin      

Last summer, my first full day in Alaska involved encounters with moose; four of them to be exact.  One bull calf, two cows and one bull on the Coastal Trail.

Thankfully during this time, I was on a bicycle.  At least I felt safer on a bike.

Being alone, and cycling along as I turned around a curve on the trail, I really don’t know who was more surprised!

Me or the bull calf moose who was to the left of me and advancing toward me.

We both kept going as his ears perked up, and all of a sudden he turned around in front of me and scampered speedily into the bush where his mother was feeding.

I cycled past and turned my head to see them both amidst the trees. 

I contemplated stopping to take a picture of them, and then remembered what I had been warned the day previously.

Moose can kill a person with one kick of the leg!

I was glad he had found his mother instead of passing in front of me.

Then she would have come out of hiding to find him, and that is not an encounter I care to think of!

As I carried on, not far from my destination I saw a female moose or cow walking in the same direction as me on the same side of the trail.

To my left I also glimpsed a pair of bull moose antlers among the trees.

This time I stopped, readied my camera and snapped two photos of her.

When she had joined her mate on the other side of the trail I pondered whether to continue on or turn back, when another cyclist appeared behind me.

He had not yet seen a moose on the trail, so when I told him about the four I had encountered, he was eager to continue hoping to snap a shot.

I followed him until the remaining trail took its toll on me and my bike which had ‘flat’ tires! 

Now I love to hike, but not with a bike in tow.  When I realized that I had two more uphill miles to go like this, having already cycled nine, I decided to turn around.

The mostly downhill nine miles back were fast and fun!

Until I got to town when I needed to go slowly uphill once again to get to the bicycle rental shop.

That is when I had the brilliant idea to walk the bike the rest of the way.

As I stopped and stepped off the bicycle onto the sidewalk, which was soaking wet due to an overflow from an ‘overhead hanging-basket plant watering machine’, I slipped and fell scraping my knee!

Bleeding, dirty and wet from both water and sweat after biking eighteen miles, I was subdued to say the least!

Welcome to my first day in the Last Frontier. . .

Love, passion, sex, lust, none of these, some of these, or all of these?

Whatever your perspective, beliefs, values, desires, mores, needs will most likely dictate the semantics used when getting what you want sexually from the partner of choice, or whether you decide to get nothing at all.

The terminology most often used by men, whether in a relationship or not, is ‘to make love’.

How many times have women heard the phrase, “I want to make love to you” by someone they only met once.

In reality, one can only ‘make love’ to someone who is ‘loved’.

Otherwise, the correct word usage would be ‘to have sex’ with someone who is not yet ‘loved’ or perhaps not even ‘liked’ or ‘known’ but definitely ‘wanted’, at least for the moment.

To clarify, it is the body that is wanted, not necessarily any other part of the person that makes up the ‘whole’.

How does one know which it is?

Unless the partner states, ‘I want to have sex with you, and maybe only this one time’, how would you know?

Length of time spent with each other might be the first clue.

How much is known about the person and in fact verified to be true, might be another indicator.

Just because the word ‘love’ is used in a phrase or sentence do not be fooled.

Unless both persons have ‘spoken aloud’ what it is each really wants from the other, make no mistake.  There is no relationship, only sex.  And maybe only one time. 

In which case, if both persons are adults, and willing participants in the ‘spoken’ arrangement, then my advice  is to ‘be safe’ and that is that.

However, sometimes women are not fully aware of the ‘hidden’ consequences of having casual sex. 

I am not referring to the medical or physical effects but rather to the ‘soul’ effects.

Women, unlike men, bond in a spiritual and emotional way every time sex occurs. 

She ‘gives’ and ‘opens’ her body and soul to him in order to ‘receive’ him.

Some women are not consciously aware that each time they ‘give’ themselves to a man, they ‘give’ away a part of their souls.

After a while, if they have given themselves to various men, women numb themselves to their own spirituality, and lose a piece of their souls, over and over again. 

The sad thing is that some women do not even realize the pain this choice can cause to themselves.  

Women need to be aware that men are biologically engineered to have multiple partners, and it is only their ‘conscious’ decision to have one mate that will dictate what they do. 

Men ‘enter’ and ‘withdraw’.  That is a fact.

A man cannot give himself completely to one woman unless he ‘decides’ to do so, and this involves a ‘commitment’.

If one listens to male experts with respect to relationships and the differences between men and women, then one knows that most men are ‘commitment phobics’.

Which brings us full circle. 

Unless a man or woman speaks ‘aloud’ the words, ‘I am committed to having a relationship with you’, and then proceeds to follow up these words with behaviours that match the words, which then engenders trust, it is just sex!

I hope that answers the question.

When feeling ‘under the weather’, while fighting off the beginning symptoms of a cold, what better way to spend a minus zero winter’s day than to sit at the computer thinking of songs, rhymes, and phrases using the word ‘wish’???

“We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year”.

‘Throw a coin in the fountain to make a wish’.

‘Throw a coin in the wishing well’.

‘The fairy godmother will wave her magic wand to make all of your wishes come true’.

‘Genie in the bottle will give you 3 wishes if you release him’.

‘Be careful what you wish for’.

“When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are…” 

“Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight, Wish I may, wish I might, have  the wish I wish tonight”.

‘Make a wish, then blow out the candles’. 

‘Whose turn to get the wishbone this time?’

‘If wishing would only make it so’.

And on and on the sayings go.

‘Get well wishes’ will have me feeling better in no time 

Although all three of these animals are orphans residing at the Alaska zoo in Anchorage, only one of them is actually a native Alaskan.

Do you know which one that is?

If you guessed ‘Grizzly’ you would be right

Alaskan Perspective

Love is what makes the ‘world go ’round’, right?

Guess that is the reason it feels like the ‘end of the world’ when love is lost or unrequited.

How does one ’heal a broken heart’?

Guess it depends on how strong the love that broke the heart.

Someone once told me that within 24 hours of his father dying, his mother followed, although she had no illness as did her spouse.

As much as it hurt her adult children and grandchildren to lose her, it would appear that she could not live on earth without the ‘love of her life’, and nothing could heal her broken heart.

“Love hurts’ as well when that love is not returned.

‘Time heals all wounds’ would hopefully apply in this case.

I believe that in spite of the pain that the search for love can cause, it is the ‘pleasure principle’ that keeps us engaged in our longing for that ‘once in a lifetime’ kind of  reciprocal, romantic, passionate love with one’s soul mate.

When these two have found each other, the poet would advise to ‘never let it go’ as ‘love conquers all’ in this life and the next . . .

People watching is one of my favourite pastimes, especially when I travel alone.

In Alaska, while admiring the allure of this vast and challenging environment which leaves a lasting impression on the viewer, and where the wilderness of  Denali showcases the draw to this country, The Last Frontier, I noticed an uncanny comparison to its men.

I recall a past television show, ‘Men in Trees’, filmed in Alaska, which implied that there are as many men in the state as there are trees.

However, I would agree that I saw more men of all ages than I did women, but not nearly as many men as the multitude of trees in my view, during my two week stay.

I noticed that most of the men I saw congregated in groups and were really enjoying the company of other men.

They were routinely drinking, watching football, listening to live music, and socializing with one another.

Even on a Saturday night this was the norm. 

I have to believe that some of them were married or had girlfriends, yet no women were with the majority of men I saw.  

I don’t believe that all or even most of them were homosexual. 

These men just seemed to truly prefer the company of men to women.

The phrase, ‘man’s man’ comes to mind.

I would venture a guess that these  Alaskan men are as challenging for women to relate to as the rugged and dangerous landscape is for these men to negotiate