Going backwards, I was in bed at 9 on Tuesday night and soon asleep. I woke once to get under the covers and then slept the night away. I did not fall out of bed, and the night went well. I feel better on Wednesday morning.
I rose battered from the falling out of bed on Tuesday with a 6:30 alarm (it is now dark outside at that time) and started the coffee, assembled the night before, now beans roasted from the 185th Corner veggie stand, and began trying to write a blog before I had to start my day. I managed, with the various distractions, to get about halfway through the blog. I did read my email, the news was the usual mess of pain and the President desperate for headlines to push his agenda and avoid accountability (not Epstein, but the farmers that cannot sell their products due to the administration’s policies, and the tariffs, which are a massive tax increase), and updating my transactions in Quicken.
I quickly showered and boarded Air VW the Gray and discovered that the Tuesday back-to-school traffic was thick and slow. I had left with 45 minutes to spare and was only a few minutes late, beating James, who also has a commute to Richard’s place. We invested an hour into changing chapters in the cooperative role-playing style game, Tainted Grail (we are playing 2.0 with the basic setting), and finally started again. The game has grown on me, and as often happens in app-driven board games, once you pass the initial story and have updated your characters with more usable resources and achieved improvements, it starts to flow better. Like Dungeons & Dragons, the gameplay is a mix of story and combat. Richard and I have focused more on combat, while James has focused on story and diplomacy.
Additionally, like D&D, the story is essential, and it must be remembered over time. I find I remember the story well, and that helps. All those years of DM-ing role-playing games. That is made difficult by weekly plays, and some stories were months ago. James is recording goals and finding lore as part of the written part of the game.
We changed chapters again. That meant more game accounting and assembly. We also agreed that we will search the areas more on the board and try to avoid another change of chapter for a while. We also think there are better options for us. More to come. I had to head out around 1ish, and we found a stopping point about 12:30. I “saved” my character and helped record some of the settings. While a physical game, it includes a process to record the current state and the ability to return to it. There are 14 or more chapters, and we are on 3A.
While the material is protected, I can say that I am liking it and its mix of comic book darkness, Arthurian Legends, SciFi, and Fantasy. Many of the choices and options do not feel forced. I find myself interested again in this material.
With the game over, I headed out in Air VW, the Gray, and the traffic back, even flying over the tall bridge and taller on-ramps, seemed less scary in the warm, sunny, early afternoon in Portland. The city, not a fiery hell, as it is called by Mr. Trump, but the town I think of as home with Beaverton, and unincorporated Aloha and Reedville, looked ready and willing to be great. This year, I heard, the number of visitors to Portland has returned to pre-COVID levels.
At the house, I get out the beef, still frozen after a day in the fridge, and run water over it as I prepare all the ingredients, going for mise en place cooking, where everything is ready before I start. It is a bit tough going as my arms, hands, and legs are still complaining about the fall. Bœuf Bourguignon, my second try, and with no onions (Deborah is allergic to onions, so I try to cook with celery and onion powder when I can).
It is an all-day adventure, and I make puff pastry cups (I used frozen purchased dough) to hold the meal instead of potatoes. I wash strawberries, skipping additional flavors and whipped cream. Our Oregon berries, I think, are best alone. I am using Chef Evelyn Stokes’ (here) rework of Julia Child’s recipe. While my cups were not as expected, the meal was good. I ate outside in the sun, and, except for a yellow jacket that wanted to share in my meal, it was an excellent meal. I did get a 1/2 glass of wine, but most of the wine went into the food. I also had just a little extra. I did have a little bowl of ice cream later. Keeping everything to smaller portions.
My weight has stayed stable and may have gone down a bit.
Corwin was a bit late; he had a big lawn job to finish, and was happy to try dinner. I served him up a tray like mine, and he thought it quite good. My tastes are still mixed up from the surgery and resultant infections, and I was happy he found it delicious.
The church council Zoom was at 6:30, and I will not recount it here. It was a bit harsh for me, as often it is when asking for money for capital projects. And while I am not happy about many of the words, I know they were not meant to be as sharp as I felt them, I was delighted to get most of the money I asked for and permission to, assuming we receive more giving to cover anything more, to do the work at the current bid (plus our purchases). More discussion about money followed. After that, the usual reports and updates, and to all our great surprise, we were done in 90 minutes, and all actions passed with unanimity.
Corwin left while the meeting was ongoing. He did the dishes for me and put away the remaining food in the fridge. I have a host of leftover options for today! I was fuzzy, dizzy, and tired. I went to bed early, as I said.
Thanks for reading. I was successful at one of my newest goals; I woke up still in bed on Wednesday!
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 