9/20/2008

As Kenny Rogers says, "Every hand is a winner, and ever hand is a loser...!" And, " The secret to surviving is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep." In his classic song, The Gambler, he sings about cards. Maybe he sings about being in a high stakes poker game while I am accustomed to playing solo, pinochle, or euchre, but nonetheless he is talking about cards. Small stakes gambling when playing cards is not uncommon or foreign to me. Is it strange that I know all the words to The Gambler? The answer to that question is yes for that song was popularized before my day, but cards have been a focal point in my life since early childhood. My Grandma Schroeder, God rest her soul, is credited and some would say responsible for putting cards up on a pedestal in my life, but I would say my parents helped by stoking the fire. As both of them can become fascinated with cards, and an outsider would be correct by saying ts in my genes. Finding a needle in a haystack would be m ore likely than have a week pass bye, in my life, without cards playing a role. Last night I played pinochle all evening after supper. I take cards very seriously, and like most things in life competition presents itself. The funnest game is solo because there is so much strategy involved, but 6 person euchre, with a double deck (pinochle), like last night is fun for a change also. I definitely like to take chances.There is a certain level of strategy involved there too.