bingo

reserved for heather malcolm

it was an evening of sweeping wins by team lucky dumpster at tonight's annual edison women's club bingo fundraiser. the edison women's club is in charge of running the town streetlights, and so i suppose the money from the fundraiser goes towards keeping those streetlights lit and maintained.  a good cause, yes, but moreover, an excuse to see your neighbors and their children and friends all gathered together for the sake of fun in the blue flourescent light of the elementary school cafeteria.

anticipations were high as we splayed the vintage bingo cards,one dollar each and scented with the familiar mildew of history, across the squat cafeteria table, james and tom with five each, heather and i with three.   we practiced sliding the little plastic window shutters over the numbers, inspected the cards, some with dates and old inscriptions on the back. mine had a poem, barely legible in a formal old lady's style of cursive, something about purity and snow.   

heather surprised us all, taking the game by storm and scoring the first bingo of the evening, choosing a lucky dumpster gift certificate as her trophy from the table full of treasures.  tom followed close behind with two wins, choosing first a hot glue gun and then a magic trick set.  james's good karma served him well, with a record four bingos, coming home with a harmonica, vice grips, an edison women's club recipe book, and "the club" car security device.  i won twice, scoring a gift certificate to slough food and a hand thrown ceramic bowl by women's club member christine skinner.  we snacked on all the cookies and brownies and tuna and egg salad and peanut butter banana tea sandwiches we could stuff down, washed it down with some sugary lemonade in a paper cup, and returned to the homestead full, drunk off of our wins, buzzed on sugar, high on our cozy community, and altogether happy as clams.