We visit my parents and my sister is there with one of her sons so the teens insist we play Scrabble . We agree as this is a tradition we have instilled , however we try to suggest that this time there will be no rude words after things got out of hand at the post Christmas game when some of the words on the board were too new even for me . The teens although cringing when anything remotely risque comes up in a film are quite happy to place slang words suggestive of all manner of sexual practice on the scrabble board regardless that Grandma is looking over her glasses at the words and may require further details at any moment . I myself have fallen into that trap , to much hilarity , the Christmas before last , when I looked quizzical over a word beginning with J . And ending in Z . I shall say no more . But it was not a word I had used .
We thought we had agreeent on this , and split ourselves into teams , Laura and me , Harvey Jess and Nat , and Grandma working on her own . I am not a natural Scrabble player , I have to admit . I love words . I love the letters , and the board and the promise of the dictionary and the hilarity that always comes with a family board game ( in this family anyway ) , and the memories of games played at the farmhouse when my grandmother started us all off when we were younger than our kids are now, the competetive spirit that has been handed down from her to my sister and has been taken up by my daughter probably who competes now to win and no mistake . As I said I am not a natural . I am so accustomed to my sister racing streets ahead within minutes ( twenty years ago it would have been my grandmother , in ten years it will be Nathalia , possibly Harvey ) that I don't really give it my all shall we say . In fact I stare at the board , the letters , words , enjoying the moment but making little effort to fit words to the high scoring areas on the boards , happy just to come up with a word now and then , thrilled with myself if its amusing and delighted if its even slightly rude .
Nat and Laura on the other hand are quipping for England , sparring and alert , their beady eyes ever watchful . They know each other scores and likely next scores even before the tiles are on the board , before their hands are in the suede bag to select the next letters . And for Nat , when its looking dubious whether she will beat Auntie Laura this time , it's simply not any good and the rules have to go . Its Rude Scrabble no matter what she said , as she has a T*** , a c***, and a c*********** which would all score very highly indeed on all fronts and we are all agreed aren't we that we can change the rules .....
I have to admire her spirit .
