I have to admit, my family is not much of a board-game-playing family, or a game playing family, period. Not sure why – Maybe we’re not competitive enough and it bores us to death, or perhaps we’re too competitive and it stresses us out. However, we do have tendencies to be a two-person game-playing family. Rarely will all six of us sit down for a game, but pairs or threes of us do enjoy games, such as Speed, Double Solitaire (some of us prefer Solitaire – alone), Rummy, Monopoly (if it is the horse edition), Herd Your Horses (yes, there’s a trend), Taboo (all of us get in on that one)…

Dad and I had the house to ourselves this evening – It was quiet. Almost too quiet. Mom, Sarah, and Anna are all in Custer, for overnight church-related activities. We had dinner, got dishes done, read our chapter in Hebrews, and decided to…play a few games. Given that it is Dad and me and not, say, Anna or Sarah and me, I expected us to make tea or decaf, make ourselves comfortable in the living room and read for a few hours. Maybe listen to Kevin Swanson’s podcast, or even watch a movie. But no, we decided to play a game or two.

Dad taught me King’s Corners, a card game that he learned a few months ago from his now-92-year-old former gradeschool teacher. We played four rounds. He trounced me. Oh, well. Next time.

Then I wheedled and cajoled just a little bit, and Dad agreed to play Risk with me. We have an ancient Risk board that has been in our cabin for decades, but the rules are a bit different from the ones I’m used to – We muddled through the setup (the part I always forget how to do anyway), and took off.

Not sure exactly what it is that appeals to me about Risk – Perhaps it feeds some inner desire to actually take over the world, hearkening back to my adolescent days where my dear cousin and I plotted world domination.

We played for an hour and didn’t finish, which is of course usual for Risk – We’ll revisit it in the morning, perhaps.

I’ve got a pretty wonderful dad. That’s all.