Melody for Marbles

In a recent blog post, Dean Wesley Smith mentioned driving from Lincoln City, Oregon to Las Vegas, Nevada with a car full of marbles. Carefully packed to not “bang together.”

I looked it up.

It’s a little over 1,000 miles (1,610 km). And according to Google Maps, the quickest drive is 16 hours. Not that he drove the whole thing in one stretch.

I used to play marbles as a kid, but along the way lost all of them. I know I gave a bunch to an ex’s brothers.

Now I only have three marbles, and I dug those out of the garden. Along with a vacuum tube, a unicorn ornament with a broken horn, and a Tupperware cake knife.

(That’s what I love about archaeology. Unfortunately my house’s old cess put is under the pear tree so I mostly have to wait and see what the roots turn over).

I watched a bunch of YouTube videos of marble competitions and games. I’d forgotten how loud those games can get!

Anyway, it got me thinking…

And along the way, I wrote a story about the marble that got away. But in the meantime, you’ll have to make do with this haiku.

See more of my Haiku here.