7" each stick
Wood & Paint
FRANCE

Mikado - Pick-Up-Sticks - are a bit of a tradition for Marco and I. Match of the year! Mikado 2009! Mikado 2008! This is the one! Mikado 2007! Every summer we have the same routine: we break out the set (or buy a new one if we forgot to bring one with us); we bring a notebook; go to the bar in Lacoste (the one with the perfect view called "Cafe de France"); then we order a Ricard and a coffee ice cream, and get down to business. This year I am ahead by 15 points. Last year, Marco's Dad got in on the act. I almost blew Match 2009 by delicately dropping a quarter of the sticks into the center of the table. Ah, technique! It was planned! Marco gets ahead, becomes greedy and loses control; I simply fall behind and lose my temper and then breathe deep for a comeback! This game is boring! But no, it is not. It is Mikado, and I can play over and over and over again, in New York too, not only on vacation. This year we will have Fall tournament #1.