Sunday Church, Trip, and D&D

I woke around 7:30, late for me on a Sunday, but the coffee was made by timer and waiting for me. To this, I added a banana and a scoop of cottage cheese with a dash of sea salt, a few grinds of pepper, and smoked paprika. I want more protein and fewer carbs for breakfast.

I wrote the blog without rushing, since the church building is not available until 10:30. We now share with another church, Emmaus Church (here), who meet earlier and uses the sanctuary. There was a meeting for our trip to New Orleans (NOLA), Alabama, and Georgia next week (I leave on the 5th of November, here) after church. I ordered through DoorDash burgers for those who wanted them, and added in one just in case (which Seth got). I had that delivered to the church at noon, meeting the driver/dasher on the street.

I tried on my new gray sweater vest and my NOLA tie. I had my church papers, D&D stuff, and some travel books already in Air VW the Gray. I carried my laptop because I had the DoorDash order half-filled. I reached the church as Emmaus was leaving. I said hello to folks from Emmaus and even spoke to a few pastors, since they know that demolition work for the refresh will start on Monday, and there will be some inconveniences.

I get more orders and order burgers from Killer Burgers via DoorDash. I usher for the church, and we, with the rains, I think, had three homeless join us. Sleeping rough in the Greater Portland area is tough in the winter, as the rain is relentless, and soon everything is soaked. We give coffee and get a few hellos in, and John Nilsen (here) is playing for the sermon for the church today! John and I have worked together for many concerts, including Susie’s Memorial here and at Grace UMC in Lansing. It is always a pleasure to see John, and I recommend his concerts and website to you, dear reader. I did buy the newest CD after the service, with his advice. Some more rock. Excellent!

It was an excellent musical service and John’s thoughts (he gives his version of a homily); he grew up in our church. It is like a homecoming with coffee and friends, a time to connect and reconnect.

After we were done, our meeting with Pastor Ken for those on the southern trip happened with some burgers and fries in Ken’s office. We talked about our hopes for the journey and some travel details. The larger concern is that we, from a come-as-you-are and home of Naked Bike Rides, may not be ready for the dress codes of the American South. No athletic shoes and shirts with collars for men, and no torn-up jeans (and maybe not jeans) or half shirts for women. Basically, you are to look like you tried to be respectful. All good —we are ready to start our adventure.

With yet another excellent but weight-increasing and cholesterol-worsening burger and fries inside me, I headed home and tried to relax for an hour or two. I watched from my chair as more heavy rain fell, but no downspout leaks. I wonder if it was some leaves blocking a gutter that sent the water to the downspout, and that has resolved with all the wind.

My gutters have refilled with my tree products. It is a pretty yellow-and-red collection, looking like an autumn fringe on my house’s roof, and I know there is no reason to fix it until both trees have released. No reason to pay Corwin or others to undo Fall’s decorations until all the leaves are down, about mid-November.

I have paid twice in some years for leaf removal. I do pay an extra $20 to my lawn service to haul away the mess. They also increased everyone’s lawn price by $20 a few years ago because of the large amount of leaves. The deciduous trees, most of which are not native, are larger now and will make a wet blanket for the area in our damp fall. We have to collect the leaves and compost them safely before they block all the flood controls in the area. While not SciFi Spice, the waters must flow! It is a big deal here to handle the leaves.

I next head to M@’s to play Dungeon & Dragons 2024, playing adventures from the Infinite Staircase material released for 5E, and with some revisions for 2024. This material is a collection of mostly older adventures revised to 5E. We are in the next adventure. I missed the last play on Deborah’s birthday. This is the old I3 adventure (1982), part of the Desert of Desolation series, and I have the original on my shelf. I have no memory of the adventure, but it is from the same writers who produced the famous Ravenloft adventure (also on my shelf). I also have the Crystal Cave we just finished (I have never played it and had no memory of it) and the S3 Expedition to Barrier Peaks, which is included in the Infinite Staircase material.

Without giving away any published material, we managed to find the adventure. We faced a cruel encounter, once again proving that my choice that my character is not resistant to fire (but to necromatic damage) was not the best min-max move. Becky had car trouble and missed, leaving us with no rogue and one down. Jack joined us as Mackers could not make it. But we had reached the 7th level, and new spells, higher temporary hit points, and Aid spells made us harder to kill.

While we made little progress helping the archaeologists, I did produce a document identifying us as the most reliable crew of helpers for archaeologists. Scott whisked away the threat that we discovered (or maybe they found us) with his latest non-combat tricks. Sort of a catch-and-release idea I have never seen implemented before. Karyn sent her summoned pixie (or like fey) into the tomb to explore. And while we cannot follow the same path, we did get a general layout of the complex.

We enjoyed the evening as we did the old dungeon crawl with the D&D version of Ehgytain’s tomb. Sort of a Hollywood mummy movie mixed with Vox Machina and Steve Martin. We will try to play on Nov 23rd, but that is a travel day for me and a church meeting day too. I will have to leave early for my 11PM flight to Boston.

With the game over, the temperature was a wet 43°F (6°C), and Scott and I only talked briefly about the play as we headed to our respective vehicles. I had spoken to Deborah by text and calls in the morning and afternoon, but we missed connecting for a ‘good night.’ We did reconnect on Monday, but it was strange not to communicate after seeing each other for two weeks. Long distance is not all that easy. But back to Michigan in December! And I am hoping for a long weekend in NYC, if we can swing it on some free weekend YTD.

I finished the Agatha Christie story, Cat Among the Pigeons, and discovered I had guessed right on some of it. The last events made little sense to me, and I missed one and did not expect the sad ending. Still a good story. I then slept and dreamed.

M@ and I were on another trip — we took one together a few years ago, but this time in various strange vehicles, as often happens in dreams, and then witnessed a massive wreck on an overpass. M@ kept us safe, and I woke up remembering that the demolition at the church started today at 7. I woke at 7.

Thanks for reading, and thanks, M@, for the game and the travels, even the dream travel.