Now here's something you don't see a lot of in Berea: an honest-to-goodness skullsies game. Just like on the blacktop of 38th Street! Except there's far less traffic on my driveway. And no broken glass. And I drew the board with real chalk instead of strips of drywall heisted from the tracks behind Kings Material building supply on 15th Avenue.

And those weren't the only differences.

I had to drink two whole bottles of beer just to get the bottlecaps (in the old days, we'd look around the curbs and gutters for what, two or three minutes?). I even melted crayon into them -- so Cookie and I could tell our gamepieces apart. We played a short game because it's bedtime; no spinsies, rollsies or killig each other from the sidelines. Cookie liked it and wants to play again.

It's gotta be well over 30 years since I played that game. And I can feel it. Mostly in my back. Ouch.