On a Thunder Road with The Boss in Ironbridge
Memo to the Games Department
It was a little after Noon when the chuckling blood brothers of the Blackford clan descended into Ironbridge and after giving Bruce the Basset Hound a cherry wave in the Doggie Day Care (he always seems happy enough, spreadeagled far and wide on his own mini trampoline) we purchased some Sherbet Pips and Cherry Cola Bottles from Jeremy in the sweet shop and dropped silly jokes about Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron’s wife as we made our merry way to an appointment with some incredibly hungry ducks and sadly, a continuing absence of Fred and Mary, the resident swans and guardians of this little toy town on the banks of the River Severn in the beating heart of central England.
My spiritual home was alive with tourists as always, business was beginning to bloom and flower in the Tontine Hotel and there was ice cream aplenty shared among the youngest and oldest of our human family. No dogs jumping into the river (and scattering the ducks) today, it wasn’t quite that warm. But after some rainy days ahead it will be, a return to a heatwave summer for a few days they say, but why wait? The sun was up, the sky was (almost) blue, and enticed by the certainty of a bacon sandwich and my joyous company, my lad readily agreed to my always ridiculous notion of a picnic breakfast in the sun and a few laughs over a game of cards and away from the hum of the machine of the Matrix.
Bruce Springsteen serenaded us to and from toy town, from a “Thunder Road” to some “Badlands” and wild boys “Racing in the Street”. The following games were played, scores recorded, and I submit these here for the Scores Committee to ratify and publish on the weekly bulletin board.
“Uno” Score
Lad 1
Dad 2
Before the bacon sandwiches had been hungrily devoured, the lad skipped merrily into a one game lead (101 points to 69) before crumbling like the delicious home made chocolate cookies he’d magically created the day before with the “Cakey Master” he lovingly calls his Mum. My goodness you should have tasted this chocolate delight! Just slightly melting and softening still further in the intermittent sunshine, it was almost as delicious as my 103–3 thumping of him in game two before, inching ever closer to the winning line of 100 points (I had 89, then 94, 97, 99…) I eventually triumphed 101 points to 65. I’m still no nearer to closing the overall lifetime gap between us, with the lad still holding a 477–334 advantage and yes, we’ve recorded the scores in our own scorebook now for more years than either of us care to remember and yes, 100 points for a win for just a single game. We’ve now played over 800 games. 800 recorded games that is. Heaven knows how many more games we’ve played over the years. A game my dear old Mum used to play with her grandchildren. The echoes of eternity. The shouting of “Uno!”. The smiles and the utterances under the breath of “Oh dear! You shouldn’t have played that card!”. The larking around beneath a blazing sun.
A world away from that other world.
“Yahtzee” Score
Lad 204
Dad 146
Forever complaining that he never wins at Yahtzee, the lad was keyed up as the dice began tumbling on a defeat that loomed large in my rear view mirror straight away, and grew ever certain with every wasted roll of the dice. The lad wanted this win, let the record be clear on the matter. Fits of giggles accompanied every X placed in my scoring column as the lad romped into a lead I could never chase down. He had the eye of the tiger today did the kid. I was half expecting him to utter “I Must Break You!” akin to Ivan Drago in Rocky IV but luckily for all concerned he didn’t, and this was just my imagination working overtime. Or may be it was the sugar rush from the Sherbet Pips and Cherry Cola Bottles?
“Tri-ominos” Score
Lad 193
Dad 175
With barely a cigarette paper between the scores (175–173 in my favour) we each had a singular tile to place and the winning line at our mercy. I had to pass, the lad scooped a final 20 points for victory, and we finished the Sherbet Pips before a second feeding of the ducks and a return stroll along the river side of a toy town that shines like no other in the afternoon sun.
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