Tis the season of chess and checkers and backgammon. Tis the season of Monopoly and Scrabble and Snakes and Ladders.
OK, so I lie when it comes to Snakes and Ladders, but that's only because I haven't owned Snakes and Ladders since I was eight. But it is the season of everything else.
At this time of year, when the days are short and the sky is dark and the magic of the patio is still a season and a half away, the pursuits are hardly trivial. Bocce is out of the question, but cribbage is not. "You get the board, I'll get the cards," I will say to the oldest son when he happens to be around.
For some reason, this is not something I will usually say to him in July - probably because he will happen to be on the golf course, rather than in the living room, and I will be moving the sprinkler or filling the hanging basket or sweeping the driveway.
I will not be stoking the fire.
Right around now, when the only sensible thing to do outdoors is to make a bee line from the car to the front door, I am not thinking about Frisbees or picnic baskets or baseball mitts, but about Colonel Mustard and the candlestick and the conservatory.
Trimming the lawn? Not a chance. Right now, I'm all about St. James Place and Marvin Gardens and Reading Railroad.
"OK," I will say to anyone who happens to be listening. "Who's up for a game of scat or gin or twenty-one?" Invariably, there'll be a show of hands.
Sure, we'll do the gin thing in August, but more often than not, it tends to be mixed with tonic. In August, I will not break out the playing cards as often as I do right now, since I am less likely to be padding from one room to the other, and more likely to be wandering from a beach log to the water or a change room to a swimming pool.
"Oh, look!" I shouted, just last week. "I got the word qualms! And a triple score for the Q!" Yes, Scrabble will be on the agenda in the summer, when we might be lounging around in a cabin by a lake. But right around now, I am more tuned in to those double-word scores than I am to lakeside swimming.
Summer may be the season to play. I could well say the same about winter.
