S is for...

Solitaire.

Sol-i-taire: Any of a number of card games played by one person.

Me and solitaire go way back, long before there was such a thing as a personal computer available to the general population.  Dad played solitaire as a form of meditation when he wanted to relax, and a way to keep his hands occupied when his head was busy with the problems or plans of the day.  He played solitaire until not only the ink was rubbed from the cards (and he would grudgingly replace it with a new deck that had to be ‘broken in’) but the colored finish was rubbed from the Formica countertop where he sat.  I wonder how many people could say the sound of shuffling cards is practically a lullaby?

Once, as an adult going through a hard time, I went to stay with Mom and Dad for a couple days.  The first night, after I went to bed, Dad sat at the counter playing cards.  After a few relaxing minutes of listening to him shuffle, I heard Mom say his cards were making too much noise and probably disturbing me.  I quickly called out that just the opposite was true; it was the sound of comfort and calm.

I like to play solitaire, too, and although I do enjoy the feeling of shuffling the cards, it is more practical to play on the computer.  No cards to get scattered or thrown by one kid while I’m dealing with the other.  Is it the same kind of meditation for me as it was for Dad?  No, in fact, it turns out knitting is my ‘solitaire’.  More than the colors and movements of the cards, I appreciate the smaller motions and tactile sensations of knitting.  I don’t knit my anger or stress into the project; on the contrary, the repetitive movements, smooth feeling of the needles, and the softness of the wool seems to make the stress melt away. 

The longer I knit, the more I wonder if it has any effect on the kids similar to the way I felt watching and listening to Dad playing solitaire.  Dearest has told me that the effect knitting has on me is discernible to him; he can tell I’m unwinding and relaxing.  I would love to think that, at some point, whatever the kids imagine as a comforting scene of home life includes the vision of me knitting – the same way I think of my dad playing solitaire.

A relaxing cup of tea goes so well with knitting!
Tea cozy of my own design and vintage brown 'Drip Glaze' teapot.