My friend taught me how to play solitaire, back when I was visited my grandparents. I was bored, for one reason or another; maybe it was too hot or cold to go outside and wander around their hobby farm. Maybe everyone else was busy with other things. So she got out a deck of cards and showed me how to play solitaire.

I was hooked for awhile, never far from a deck of cards. But somehow I only really played when I was visiting my grandparents. Taught me a cool card trick, one that I've forgotten by now. And we played dominos sometimes. And I got them some cards for Christmas one year and we played from time to time.

At home, no one would ever play card or board games with me. Okay, that's not quite accurate. My Dad taught me checkers and chess and we played occasionally. My brother would rarely play me at checkers and then he'd be really mad if I beat him so we didn't play that often. My Mom wasn't interested, usually, though I convinced her to play ,Payday, ,Monopoly, and ,Masterpiece once in awhile. Not often, alas. But I always had to beg and nag to get anyone in my immediate family interested.

We'd sit around the table, my grandparents, my brother and I, waiting for some of her incredible chocolate chip cookies to get done baking. And we'd play cards. My brother and I generally argued over who'd get to shuffle the cards in their electric card shuffling machine. And we teased each other and had a grand old time.

Still, I didn't bother with solitaire that often. When I went off to college, I watched the guys play poker, and managed to learn how to play Hearts. Also played Skip Bo with one pal when he worked at the front desk of our dorm.

So solitaire was great, I could play it by myself, just about anywhere. No need to get anyone involved. And, perfectionist that I was, I didn't have to worry about losing to anyone or feeling silly if I forgot the rules of the game.

In grade school, the first computer game we got for our Commodore 64 was ,Monopoly. I liked it heaps, I could play against the computer. And I got addicted to all sorts of computer games.

When I got my first PC running Windows and found ,Solitaire on it, 'twas cool. Then later came ,FreeCell and I was addicted. Playing FreeCell for hours on end, losing track of time. I was always good, didn't play FreeCell or solitaire on the job, even though most PCs I've used in the working world have had one or both of them.

I went so far as to buy some Solitaire programs, but most weren't as good as FreeCell or the many shareware programs I downloaded. I am quite fond of Sierra software's Hoyle Solitaire, it's neat. I've played and played that game. And the latest computerized ,Monopoly is grand, pretty cool to play over the net.

When I first found the first version of ,Hardwood Solitaire, I was in heaven. Well, really happy.

I just recently downloaded ,Pretty Good Solitaire and I'm having a blast trying it out. A bit overwhelming, all those games. Could provide too many hours of enjoyment.

I tell myself I want to get a Palm III for all sorts of productive reasons, but deep down I think I mostly want one so I can play solitaire games anywhere I go. Yeah, sure, I could just carry a deck of cards around, but that's not the same. While I like the feel of the cards, on a computer it's faster, it takes less space. If I ever get carpal tunnel syndrome, it seems more likely to be caused by hours of playing FreeCell than anything else.

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