Monday, July 30, 2012

Before Cable TV and Home Computers, My Sister and I Did This

This morning, we rediscover the joy of the domino effect. I tell my daughters and their friends that--long before home computers and cable television--my sister and I would spend afternoons creating our own fun with our own minds.

For example, we were obsessed with falling tile circuits. We used scrabble pieces and set up huge mazes. Our cat would paw at the first tile and set off the chain reaction.

Sometimes, I used my own breath to knock that first one down. 

That's what we did, over and over again.





We spend the morning amazed over the effect one tiny push has on a whole sequence of events.

It's a simple pleasure--tactile, exciting, rewarding--that came from afternoons with my sister when we had nothing else to do 30 years ago. I don't remember television shows I watched with my sister. I don't remember movies I saw with her.

But I remember the mazes of tiles.

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What did you do to entertain yourself before cable TV and home computers?

2 comments:

Joann Olson said...

Here's a domino project to aspire to: http://youtu.be/8GWI0A9o_5E (yes, I fully realize the irony of directing you to a youtube video in response to this post.) :-)

dukeslee said...

We did the same thing! We also played a lot of Husker Du, a memory game. And Sorry and UNO. And I loved my Holly Hobbie dollhouse.