Cribbage is an old Fernuik family game. I remember as a child watching my father play with his father and uncles on the rare occasions of their visits. That was the only time the face cards came out in our early home. Over the years, once stringent policies of many sort have relaxed, and we keep face cards rather handy for the regular game of cribbage.
Another recollection is in my twenties. I was the teensiest bit hurt that my father had never shared with me the joy of cribbage. After all, it was a Fernuik tradition: my birthright and bloodline. Why was it so hallowed a game among his father and uncles, yet I had never been introduced?! I cornered him and demanded entrance and membership into the Fernuik cribbage society. He and my mother sat on opposite sides of me like training wheels and taught me the game.
As I traveled the world, I took a wee wooden cribbage board with me and a deck of cards. Often, I would teach others to play cribbage and likely gift them the board we were employing.
For those of you familiar with cribbage culture, boards are often made of many materials including wood, antler, whalebone, and repurposed materials. I love making cribbage boards. Wait… that declaration deserves its own separate paragraph…
I love making cribbage boards.
It took shape by itself. My father would hew a general board from wood, gift it to me and leave the rest up to me. I would design, measure, drill holes, make pegs, sand the dickens, paint, wood burn, varnish, felt the bottom, and dress the board as I saw fit. One of my favorite cribbage boards is the ski slope cribbage board I made last Fall out of cedarwood and poplar pegs.
Did I mention that I love making cribbage boards?
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