Variety’s the spice of life, mix it in with ‘Spoons’

Saturday evening, I biked five blocks to a private home for a gathering of the St. Michael’s (Church) Young Adult Group.  I have participated in several of their events in the past, but this time it was for an ethnically themed, potluck-style dinner, “Mexican Night.”  The evening was complete with taco fixings, margaritas, enchilada bake, mariachi background music and a horse piñata.

We felt kind of sorry for the poor little caballo (Spanish for horse) as we swung a baseball bat at him, and watched our comrades do so. The borrowed suit tie only did a partial job in serving as a blindfold, so I found myself having to also close my eyes.  Even after our little amigo was “busted open,”  he remained somewhat intact.  (Check out a video of the escapade!)  There was some talk of adopting him as the mascot for our young adult group.

I so enjoy these gatherings.  They add variety and a time of relaxation with people from my peer group that is very refreshing.  It’s a time away from the daily ins and outs of my life, serving here at St. Anne’s.

We finished off the evening with a rousing tournament of “Spoons,” a game I’ve known and played for years.  Actually, one of the young ladies at this gathering remembered when we had taken part in this non-violent diversion years ago when she was visiting our convent in Hankinson.

It’s interesting how my potential for competitiveness can really come out as the spoons disappear from the middle of the table and I find myself grabbing wildly for the nearest spoon, before an opponent can get it and I am eliminated.

At first as we played, everyone stayed in the game, simply adding a letter in S – P – O – O – N – to their tally if they lost. After some time, however, the group decided to start single elimination.  It wasn’t too terribly long before I was eliminated from “Cucharas” (Spanish for spoons, in keeping with our Mexican theme).  Dusk was starting to fall so I took that as an opportunity to head for home.  It was already about 9:30 p.m. and I had to be at work early in the morning.

Sister Christina M. Neumann