Sunday, September 23, 2007

I am "The Lord of the Ring Toss"

It has been my goal---nay, my obsession---to win a huge stuffed animal at a carny game. It didn't matter where the opportunity arose: Valley Fair, the amusement park at the Mall of America, a county fair, even some rinky dink carnival during the 4th of July.

Oh, I won little things from time to time; but, it didn't satisfy my hunger. At first, Mocha-momma could not fathom this innate need of mine to conquer this Mt. Everest of carnival games. She could not believe I would spend $10-15 bucks throwing ping-pong balls at floating cups, or trying to land a wiffle ball in a colored space without dropping down a losing hole, or taking a basketball shot at a basket with the rim about one centimeter larger than the diameter of the ball. Eventually it turned into a family joke, and she lightened up on me about this addiction I had. I always told her, once I hit the big one, I would retire.

Well, I hit the big one.

We had our company picnic today at Valley Fair amusement park. I had my addiction under control. I had only spent $2 bucks for 7 balls on the wiffle ball toss. That was going to be it. Then, walking pass the ring toss game, I put my hand in my pocket and came up with 4 quarters. One dollar for 5 chances at the big one. MM gave me the nod to go for it. The first three clanked around the bottles and dropped harmlessly in between. I said a quick prayer, and lo and behold, BAM, right on the money. I casually tossed the last one, and heard those words I've been waiting to hear for years---which color monkey do you want?

Give me the purple, it will match the decor in Hannah's room.





Probably hundreds of dollars spent pursuing the big one.
Seeing the look on Hannah's face when I showed it to her later: PRICELESS.

8 comments:

Guitarman said...

That deserves a comment only i'm not sure what to say. Um...Wow!

Anonymous said...

So...which one's the monkey?

Ok, had to get the obvious shot out of the way so others won't have to struggle with the tempatation.

But a purple gorilla? Something tells me that that's not a color found in nature.

imfreenow.blogspot.com said...

Thanks for sharing that....!

RobertDWood said...

Who's the other lass?

And does this sate your obsesion, or mearly encourage it?

Anonymous said...

The other gal is Hannah's best friend, Hayley. JR was wiped out from Boy Scout camp; plus, he had two papers and other homework due on Monday, so he decided to stay home. We called Hayley last minute. Naturally, Hannah was heartbroken that her brother didn't go; but she sucked it up and suffered through the day with her best friend.

PB-that is the big question. Will I be able to walk by these booths in the future and ignore the rings, ping-pong balls, wiffle balls and basketballs calling my name? Could Odysseus ignore the call of the sirens?

I won't be tested on it for a while. I think I can give it up freely though.

Bike Bubba said...

I heard on Fox that that particular gorilla was seen hanging out last week with "Barney." Not to insinuate anything, but...

Anonymous said...

Don't be dissin Barney. Them's fightin words in our neck of the woods. He was responsible for giving us a much cherished 1/2 hour break. I'd give that big purple dino a hug if I ever run into him.

inklenaomi said...

KD, now all you need is the 'Lord of the Ring Toss" belt buckle, like the rodeo champs. If I ever find one, we will have a ceremony and everything.