Like
checking your Horoscope every morning before your day begins, I play FreeCell
to shake loose the dreamy cobwebs and help a cuppa steaming coffee stimulate my sleepy
brain.
I’ve
played it for years—back in the early 2000s I waited impatiently in a Phoenix Discount Tire Center for my Jeep’s
new shoes to be installed. Looking up from the two-year-old magazine in hand, I
spotted the counterman at the computer—you know how the monitors half-face
front so customers can see the screen?
He
was playing FreeCell. Solitaire is in my card-playing blood and I’d not heard
of this game?! I eagerly attacked the counter and “John” showed me a few moves.
When he was called to the service area, he graciously allowed me to play his
game.
I
was hooked—I rushed home, flying smoothly on my Jeep’s new wheels (yes, I splurged
for custom rims, too—that was back when I actually had a budget) and installed
FreeCell on my PC.
That
was ten years or so ago and when I, PC, Sunny the cat, and the Jeepster, returned
to my beloved San Diego, FreeCell moved with us.
It
wasn’t until this past year however, that I realized how much the same
strategic skills utilized in FreeCell mirror our moves in life. How you ask?
Let me count the ways …