Oregon continues to have Northern California weather instead of the usual gray and rain for the Pacific Northwest. My apple tree is blooming, and the pink cherries and other stone fruit trees fill the lower sky with color. My roses are (mostly) rushing to summer and will be soon. The dawn redwood has added a few inches. Leaves are appearing on the trees. The usual green at this time is larger moss!
According to the longer forecast, the rains will return next week while I am in Michigan from 13-22. I should return to gray and damp and happy roses (maybe the old roses will recover by then). I am looking forward to seeing folks in Michigan next week.
I invested my morning, looking out my window at the unexpected sun and blue skies, and writing the blog. I also drank some Fair Trade coffee while enjoying a banana for breakfast. But it was Tuesday, and I had to stop at about 8:30 to play at Richard’s house in Portland.
I was soon in the shower, then all of the usual things, and hurried to the EV, at 85% charge, poured coffee into a car-safe cup, and tried to get to Richard’s by 9:30, but it was more like 9:45 today, taking nearly an hour to make the short trip. I arrived just a moment after James, who also had a long trip from the North. Nothing like Tuesday Spring Traffic when school is back on. Yikes!
(Tainted Grail back in its box and disassembled until next time.)
We returned to the TTPRG-style cooperative board game Tainted Grail and discovered that we were at the end of the campaign! We thought we had maybe three plays left, but no, the game asked us if we were done. We discussed this for a while (Richard was ambivalent) that our actions had previously been to save the villagers, not to restore Kamalot (yes, with a ‘K’). The game asked us if we wanted to settle with the folks we saved, and we answered yes. The game ended. We learned that had we continued, we might have saved more of the world of Tainted Grail, but we still succeeded, and we were surprised now to spend the next hour dismantling our hard-won character, good, and special secrets. It was strange to reset after 24 plays (each hour long) for the last nine months or so.
Note: TTRPG is an old-school tabletop role-playing game like Dungeons and Dragons, Call of Cthulhu, or Savage Worlds.
We returned James’s copy of the Mansion of Madness, which was still at Richard’s house. We set up a scenario, and I played a butler. Richard and James also picked characters they had not played before. This, too, is an app-based TTRPG-style board game, but the characters start each time anew. No campaigns. But if a character goes insane (I did), you receive a card that may give you an alternative way (including having a weapon and being alone with another character; yikes). In my case, my character was slain at the very end, but James and Richard found a way out. The rules state that the scenario can still be won if it is completed on the next turn after the death of a playing character. They succeeded, and my insanity card said that I too won as my special insane condition was met. It did not say I needed to be alive. Wow!
After that, we put away the game and decided to try ISS Vanguard, as James has a copy he has never played. This is another TTRPG-style board game with an app. Richard warned us that it is reportedly highly rated but difficult to learn (as it took us about three months to work out Tainted Grail). I am a bit concerned.
Next, after putting the game away and likely meeting again in May (we all travel), I headed to Broadway Grill and had their wickedly good three-chili dog lunch and a Mr. Toad’s Wild Red Ale. I finished and published the blog. There was a homeless person under a blanket on the sidewalk. They did not rise while I was there, but they did roll over a few times, exposing a leg and knee scabbed over from a harsh fall. There was a bowl of soup, likely from the Broadway Grill staff (it is tradition in the area to make extra soup and give it away to those who cannot afford it — often priced as a pay-what-you-can, plus a recommended price).
I reboarded Air VW the Gray and quickly returned home after 3 (the day was vanishing). I read for a while, nodded off, but woke immediately as I was not sleeping away the day. I called Deborah for a while and then others. Joan S and I arranged my delivery to PDX on Monday for my late flight.
At 6:30, another church Zoom meeting, and we talked about the possible Brazil trip in November. Our church has a connection with the Greathouses and their work in Brazil. It is estimated that about $2,000 for flights and $2000 for food and lodging there. The weather is not terrible in November, but other better times (from a USA perspective) are not good for traveling to Brazil. We agreed to get a clear statement together of who, what, when, and how for the congregation.
I had toast with jam (bread I made, sliced and then frozen) for dinner. I also had a bowl of ice cream as a snack. I read and did not do much more; I am still a bit tired and have to soon pack for my next trip. Time flies!
I went to bed, read in bed, and soon slept. I closed the windows before I slept to keep pollen out, and I still have the heat on (though set low at night).
Thanks for reading!
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 