Marble weather

In Munising Spring would start to show its face in April . The sun obviously stood a little higher in the sky. It rays began to pack some strength. We still had snowstorms, but the old adage of April showers bring May flowers is especially true along the southern shores of Lake Superior.

While the snow banks still were quite tall their appearance became ugly. The means of keeping streets passable during the time of winter was to plow the road and spread sand for traction. As time wore on and plows continued to pile snow on the banks there was a build up of sand mixed in with the snow. As the snow melted the sand was exposed and you got this dirty brown appearing snow bank. The sand could become so heavy that it retarded the melting of the bank. So often time the snow in the yards might melt to bare ground yet along the streets the snow banks remained several feet high.

Water running off the streets under cut the ice along the curb and a combination of freezing and melting made for quite an ice build up in the gutters. As a result we kids made a game out of walking along and breaking small ice shelves by stomping on them with our feet. The broken ice would form a small dam and the water would back up, refreezing at night and the process would begin anew the next day.

It is in this setting that my favorite spring rite took place. The playing of marbles.

There were two types of games as I recall. One was called circles the other pots. Circles was simply a game with a circle of sufficient diameter drawn on the soft ground and then kids took turns using a "shooter" to knock marbles out of the circle. There was an ante, it was usually some agreed to number of marbles each play put at risk in the circle. You had to get the "shooter" to roll out of the circle after knocking a marble out of the circle otherwise you had to put the marble back in the circle. You shot until you missed. There were two primary shooting techniques. One involved holding the "shooter" between your index finger and your thumb and throwing the marble with some force at the intended target. There was another version not often seen in my generation as I think it was used in generations before us. It involved curling the index finger into a semi-circle then lodging the marble in the arc of the semi-circle. Placing your index finger, knuckle first on the ground you used your thumb like a pinball flipper and shot the "shooter" at a target. I tried this technique but was not nearly as successful with it as the thrown technique.

Pots involved digging a depression in the soft earth with the heel of your shoe going round and round to create an even depression two or three inches deep. Then you rolled marbles along the ground into the "pot." Kind of like a reverse horseshoes, or curling. I'm not sure of what winning was, but I think that you took turns rolling marbles. The first one to get all of his marbles into the pot won the pot. I'm not sure but I cannot for the life of me think of another winning rule that makes sense.

I was quite good at marbles. My Dad usually staked me to a fairly generous supply to begin the season and as I remember a year or two my previous seasons winning were sufficient to tide me over into the next season. I usually had a fairly big cloth bag of marbles. There were the normal glass marbles, cat's eyes, and occasionally the older clay versions. "Shooters" were also called Joners. There was a version of a "shooter" called a "steelie." A steelie was a ball bearing we would find by scavenging the scrap yard of the Munising Foundry located across Munising Ave. from Lincoln School. The foundry was owned by the Hanson family and they lived in a home that fronted Superior St. but ran along an alley that bordered the western property of Lincoln. I do not recall Mrs. Hanson, except to say that I think we thought she was mean. I think she was just old.

Regardless, many a time was had going to school in the morning, on the way to and from lunch, and after school playing marbles. The Benzing family lived on the corner of Munising Ave and Hickory St. They had a garage behind their home with a gravel driveway. It was that gravel driveway that seemed to shed snow first. Often there was a cold breeze. We are talking weather here in the 30's and 40's. In the morning on the way to school it would be 20's. We are talking about shedding jackets and gloves to be able to get into the proper position to shoot marbles. We are talking about hand numbing, bone chilling cold tolerated because it was spring. There was a cold that blew up the back of your shirt or down the neck of your tee shirt as you hunched over to shoot a winner.

When you were done shooting marbles, hustling to get to school on time the jacket and gloves would warm to your exertion so that by the time you got to school you had broken out in a mild sweat. Those were glorious days. The promise of spring brought forth marbles. The marbles brought forth the feeling that winter was losing its grip. We proved how tough we were by still playing marbles during the occasional spring snow storm. We proved how tough we were by coming home after school with our jacket slung over our arm, our hands dirty from the effort of honest toil, and a marble bag heavy with booty. A hot cup of hot chocolate that warmed the tummy, the warmth of the house, and mother cooking dinner proved that we were men among men and that things were all right in the world.

Well Crap!

It is January 8. Here in Arkansas it is 6 degrees. It is Friday. I'm still in my bathrobe and pj's listening to Christmas music. Why? My speakers on my computer system some how got reduced from the five speakers to just two and the fidelity of the music was thin over the holidays. I just didn't enjoy the music. I found the problem, some how the wrong speaker configuration was selected and the rear speakers, sub woofer, and center speaker were turned off. So, I'm making up for the loss of full rich sounds I missed during Christmas. I've mothballed my big stereo system for a period and the computer's sound system filled in just fine, until the past holidays.

What does that have to do with adding a post to Rambling & Remembrances? I love Christmas music. The fact that it might be the TransSiberian Orchestra or Mannheim Steamroller is of no consequence. I've even got some old standards playing by Harry Connick. It is the feeling and memories that the music gives life to. I find myself getting a little emotional. I am wishing for days gone by knowing they will never be again, even if you recreated the events with the same people it will be different. This time of year I enjoy, fight and have to deal with a high level of nostalgia and sentimentality. That is part of my make up.

Now I find my self recalling the time when my first wife and I with two small children occupied a duplex on the north side of Racine, WI. We had bought some types of playthings that had to be put together. I do not exactly remember what they were, but I do recall that we had to put them together after the kids had gone to bed. I think at the time it was frustrating. With time however the edges of the picture soften and you wish you could do that again. There is no doubt that Christmas is for kids. I get tears in my eyes thinking about my little tykes rushing to the tree, eyes shining in excitement. The oohs and ahs made the experience so wonderful. Brewing coffee, eating coffee cake, playing with the gifts, watching the little ones shiver with excitement are still warm thoughts.

We always tried to have a big Christmas for our kids. There were times that I thought I would like to just go to a cabin in the north, hand make gifts, and try to connect with the spirit of the time instead of the materialism. It would not have worked, none of us really wanted that experience. Besides, I now live in a log cabin and there are just two of us on Christmas morning. It is fine, it is OK, there is no greater or lessor emphasis on the season. But I do miss the little ones, my little ones.

The fact of the matter is that I do not believe that our family practiced over consumption of material goods as the kids were growing up. There was a balance struck between need and practicality without going to excess. So I don't think Christmas spoiled the time. It enhanced the season. I talk with God just about everyday and God is not out of my thoughts for long. I have a strong sense of the presence of God. I say that because I think too often people end up critical or have a hard time dealing with the commercialization of the season. I don't. God is present in my life 365 days a year, I don't need a day in December to recommit or to be aware of God's majesty. So I don't have a problem with creating a day of excitement and pleasure for my children. They deserved it, after all they had to put up with me for all of the days of the year after that December 25th.