Labor - Less

September is here, and hot to warm weather continues. Labor Day is known by all mothers.  Yikes!

Hope you’re keeping your cool, and that encumbrances all aspects of our lives.Tempers are a lot like the weather and a lot like Bridge. This month can be very hot, and just like our tempers, they can rise-up quickly. At the bridge table, sour apples go to the following folks who are:

• No shows 

• Late to play

• No phone calls telling your partner you can’t play that day

I hate being late, and always call my partner letting her know when I’ll arrive. She or he can then tell the Director. Unless you’ve experienced an emergency, you’re causing temperatures to rise from the waiting bridge players, and of course delays the start of the game. It’s good for me and you to remember that patience is a virtue and we can all occasionally mess up.

We’re thriving at the Contra Costa Bridge Center. Attendance has been like a fine wine: Smooth, natural and ageless. Time marches on, but with bridge, it seems to come to a standstill. We’re in the moment, present and someone’s “knocking their heads and saying, “I should have had a V-8. I mean, I should have bid 3 NT.

This game of constantly reformulating contracts, bids and more: a lot like making dinner. If you like to cook, you experiment, try new recipes, and reap the benefits of eating good, heartfelt food. This also goes for Bridge too. The more we learn, the better players we become, devouring every morsel of a point and relishing every play of the hand.

One more shout-out: Kids can really benefit from learning bridge at a young age. So many skills are developed, like counting, adding, memorization, and learning how to play well with others. You can take it to the bank, when forming one’s brain, learning needed skills early, gives the kids, an upper hand when preparing for school.

Lisa Assoni

ShortCut Cook (™) (Sep 2026)