The House at Shit Corner

 The House at Shit Corner

      Time often stood still or went in reverse at Bear Cove after dark. While some of us sat out on the dock spinning yarns, admiring the complete solar system and drinking the fruit of the vine it was not always possible to gather outdoors. Also, when camp was full there was a need for inclusive activity and this was when the paper and pencils came out for a spirited game of Charades, Bone-style. The great thing about Charades is that players could be of any age and ability. Just because you were a kid that did not mean you could not excel in the acting skills and creativity required of an accomplished charader. The game goes back to the 1850's when some French brothers named Mayhew invented a parlor activity for the Christmas season. To make a long evening short. "Players form themselves into teams.‘A word is then fixed upon by the corps dramatique; and “my first, my second, and my whole” is gone through as puzzlingly as possible in dumb show, each division, making a separate and entire act. At the conclusion of the drama, the guessing begins on the part of the audience. The great rule to be observed in acting charades, is—silence. Nothing more than an exclamation is allowed." After the game caught on in France it crossed the channel and became popular in England who imported it to their old colony across the pond. At Bone there would be a hue and cry that a game was afoot and then slips of paper would be torn into pieces for suggested titles to be given by players. Teams would be chosen loosely and known experts would be placed on opposite sides. At Bear Cove the games became quite spirited and many times would cause laughing fits or curses of frustrated teammates who had failed to elicit the proper titles. You could do a book, a movie, a song or a TV show and it is a lot harder than it seems. On one cozy night with a full house, the game was going great and a team with plenty of Sheehys on it had the book title from the A.A. Milne stories of Winnie the Pooh. The title of this book was "the House at Pooh Corner" that also became a song by Loggins and Messina. I may need to edit this post but I think it was Greg who was attempting to act out the title and was able to get "house and at" without much trouble. In trying to portray the Pooh he was scooping at his butt and holding out some kind of matter he expected to be called Poo. One of the kids (Kit or Ed) excitedly blurted out "House on Shit Corner!!" and hilarity ensued that continued all the way to the end of the game and indeed to the final farewell waves of that visit to Bone.