Ocean Sky

It's funny the things that occupy your time when travelling through India. You get so excited when you see a deck of cards or deck of Uno and a Connect Four game in a restaurant. Alex and I have played countless rounds of Uno and Connect Four while travelling around. Alex is the circuit champion amongst the travelling community in Connect Four, as she is quite a strategic player (much to my surprise) and I keep our good name and hold my own with Uno. It really makes one giddy to find these games and some new components, but for those of us who have intricate imaginations, like our Alexandra, there are just so many more spectacular games to play when using that imagination. Alex shared some very happy childhood memories with me and how she and her older siblings, Julie and Matt, would go to the beach in Swanage (a bonny little town where we ran the hilliest half marathon of my life and spent the late afternoon with Alex's friends at the old folks home there). On the car ride up, they would all play a game in which you had to point out the Ocean Sky when you saw it and the first person to call it out won. Now, you didn't get any prizes, the reward was just being the winner for the day; the cool one. Man how things have changed for the newest generation of kids. First, Ocean Sky would not be stimulating enough for kids these days and no prize...forget it! So, you may be wondering what Ocean Sky looks like and for those of us that have rarely been around the ocean, it takes a bit of time. It isn't just when you sea and the sky meeting at that horizon point, as that would be too late and you would not be the winner. It is when you look up at the sky, it can be any colour and it can even be raining, and it sort of looks distant and endless...there are usually palm trees scattered all across the skyline and lately there is an ominous gray cloud threatening us with her rain. You know you're close when you can smell that sea air, the mix of moist freshness with a touch of ocean life whistling through beneath your nose. Alex just loves this game...though I must admit, I am pretty good at winning Ocean Sky myself. She is particularly proud of the fact that she always won this game when she was a kid and Matt and Julie were just terrible at it. It is quite a proud moment for her and I do love to see her bright smile with that hint of gloat behind her eyes...I'm sure we all know that face! She is after all the most competitive and athletic person I have ever met! Then, today, while we were scootering around all the local areas including the Aguada jail which houses only male prisoners and some foreign prisoners convicted of drugs offences. Yikes. It is actually a lovely prison from the outside located on the coast by the ocean with trees surrounding the entire circumference. We're sure it is quite the contrary on the inside however! While walking around the outside of the prison, it occurred to me Matt would have been about 15 years-old and Julie thirteen, while Alex a mere 5 at he time their Ocean Sky game was played. Hmmm, I wonder if Matt and Julie were really into this game...were they really playing along with an eager and excitable 5-year-old. Alex and I discussed this for an hour or so and I think she came to the realization after my intervention that maybe, just maybe, they let her win from time to time...or maybe always! Oh the laughs we had about this. Maybe Matt and Julie could shed some light on this game and give me some hints so I can give Al a run for her money.