Metro to Mountain Journal

Our daughter lives in Knoxville and was able to come home for Christmas. She had told us she had been spending hours working on a special Christmas present which was stored in the back of her car. The project was unfinished and we were not to peek.

She originally parked down the street so that we would not see our unfinished gift, but soon she parked her car closer and closer to the house. We walk regularly and, so, passed the car. The back end of the small station wagon was filled with what looked to be 12 inch long two by fours. Perhaps she was giving us kindling for Christmas? Who knows?

Then on Christmas morning she presented us with a box full of 10.5 inch long two by fours. On each two by four she had decorated the blocks with the names of mountains, elevations, and dates we climbed them. Okay, Now what? Oh, it was a giant Jenga game! To authenticate her efforts she told us it was a Home Depot project. Hmmm.

She not only made the game for us, but for others too. While at one grandparents', she enticed a couple of her cousins to play. Soon the room was filled with on lookers and advice givers. The tower shook and quaked as it grew taller and taller. The audience grew more and more vocal. Chants encouraged the participants. Roars of triumph and anguish erupted as the tower teeter for its last time and the blocks fell to the floor.

Okay, this was a good game. At the other grandmother's house the game was given to an uncle. Once again the shouts of fun filled the room. The game was repeated and the fun continued.

The gift was a success. Everyone liked it. Our set was extra special with the mountain information on each block.

We still laugh when we think about our daughter forbidding us from peeking into the back of her car - as if we would have ever guessed that the boot load of blocks was a giant Jenga game!

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas day and received gifts as fun and entertaining as the giant Jenga!