Our latest big game is an explorer’s game. We have a bigger map- the biggest one yet. I made a new board, glued cork onto wood and then drilled a couple holes so we could hang the thing on the wall to keep it out of the way and undisturbed. (We have a big white cat named Wolf who loves to pull push pins out and carry them around in his mouth He’s an amazing hunter, but only for office supplies.)

So we have this gigantic map. But the thing is- it’s all blank. Just white paper with a grid. The many, many squares can only be explored when an army moves into that square.

Armies and outposts are represented by push pins. When armies meet or attack outposts we play it out on our scape terrain.

An army moving onto a blank square of paper has only a 15+ chance of finding new terrain. Less than 15 it’s just the same as the square they came from. The terrains we’re using are: mountain, swamp, forest, plains, lava, lake, lake with island,...

We have made it through another winter. It wasn’t a terrible time; the snow and cold weren’t excessive. It’s just nice to be able to go outside again.

I do go outside in the winter time. This year I was busier. Somehow the older I get the busier i seem to be. It’s not a trend I’m happy about.

Here are some random winter/spring highlights:

Just after the snow melted I was driving home at night. I stopped at a red light and noticed a creature waiting by the side of the road. It was a large rat, and it was waiting for the light to change so it could cross safely. I find that disturbing.

On a warmer day I was walking to work. There was slush and mush beside but the sidewalk was clear. I was behind a larger slow moving woman who was walking in the very middle of the sidewalk. I ran out of patience, walked faster and stepped into the slush to get around her. Only my foot slipped and I fell right in front of her and then...

I know I am wrong to use the term witch. I like witches. I think there are a lot of good things about witches. But in this case I’m using it to describe my new neighbour.

She’s not actually new. She’s been there two years now. Obviously she has money, for she’s fixed the little house up, erected a deck and added lots of cute outdoor decor. I don’t know her name. She’s never spoken to me.

My one interaction with her was by proxy on the day she moved in. In the afternoon there was a terrific pounding on my front door. It was a young woman I did not know. She was angry, impatient, rude, blonde. She said her mother had just moved in next door and could I right now take the shower doors out of the shed?

I had no idea what she was talking about.

Apparently the people who’d lived there before had shower doors in the shed and had lied and said I wanted them and would take them. That way they didn’t have to move them. Coincidentally...

We have just had the biggest point battle of our lives.

The battle was the culmination of one of our big games. The world was drawn on paper and divided into squares. Each square is a battlefield. The map was large with an ocean in the middle. The ocean was filled with islands, both large and small. This last battle took place on an island called Japan.


the push pins represent outposts and armies and you can see the pile at the Isle of Japan

The samurai had been a faction in the game, one of the ten playing, but they were eliminated early on. There was really two things happening in this game- the islands fought amongst themselves and the shore factions fought each other. Japan was the samurai capital, but it was overrun by an alliance of small factions- lizard men, orcs, elves and gnolls. Truly a horrible army of icky stinky things....

One of the squires from my medieval program sat vigil last night. It’s one of the steps to becoming a knight. Usually the squire receives a vision, and then they know the vigil is complete.

We take our knighting seriously. Most pages will take years to become squires, and then they work for years as squires before they consider attempting knighthood. The vigil is ancient- in medieval times squires knelt in churches considering the world and their part in it.

Our medieval program isn’t nearly as strenuous as the ancient reality. Kids learn by experience but then they go home and eat pizza and play on their ipads. But there is something that draws some of them and keeps them coming back to the medieval program over and over again.

Last night the squire was nervous, which is reasonable. Kneeling all night in a darkened and supposedly haunted room to face your fears and your future could be considering daunting. Fear is powerful force...