Friday 22 June 2012

Winding down towards Foreign Travels


I am feeling very weary and in dire need of a holiday - which fortunately I am having very soon - in order to rest and recuperate and recharge the batteries. As is usual for such an occasion I have been busy applying myself to the all important packing, specifically the packing of my 'holiday reading'. I am not taking any electronic hardware so no laptops, IPads, net books, e-readers or hand held gaming devices - I do not even possess an IPod or indeed any other MP3 player. Nope, it will be very old school in respect of a couple of books and a notepad or two with all the associated writing kit. 

Our holidays are usually meticulously planned (this is SWMBOs domain - I merely act as the 'Gopher') in respect of getting to and from the destination but after our arrival is usually a lot more informal. Over the two weeks we tend to spend a few days doing the tourist sight seeing thing (usually around the middle period) and the rest of time is relaxing. I must confess to enjoying on a daily basis the hour or so during late afternoon whilst the ladies are preparing for dinner (most chaps can usually be ready in fifteen minutes - showered, shaved, dressed and on the balcony with an aperitif or two....) as I will invariably be sitting outside, with a book and a drink, feeling clean and refreshed after a day of sea, sun cream and sweat and with the merciful relief that comes with the temperature having dropped a couple of degrees.
 
I can read, or think, or dream of table top glory in some fashion simply because I can. There are no worries about jobs, commuting, setting the alarm or any one of the hundred other myriad distractions of daily life that contrive to chip away and erode the soul. It is my time, for me and I am for a fleeting moment the centre of my universe as I whimsically ponder the age old of question of the Mediterranean - where does the blue of the sea end and become the blue of the sky?
 
Enough of this pseudo poetic babble and on with the good stuff.
 
I have selected my reading material and for reasons that will become apparent after my return it is a rather unusual choice. I normally practise what could loosely be called 'method reading' in that invariably at least one of the books I take would be based around or having something to do with the place I am staying. Not this time though so no Turkish or Greek adventures for me - my reading material will be a world away from the domain of Homer and others.
 
I have a cunning plan (to be accurate this is not solely my idea!) for something that I shall be working on whilst I am away that will appear on the blog upon my return and believe me when I say it is cheap, easy to do, can be picked up or put down with ease and will appeal to anybody with an ounce of the romantic or dramatic in them!
 
Oh, and crocodiles will probably feature....;-)
 
And unfeasibly large moustaches....;-)

This will probably seem like an odd post from someone that is not actually going anywhere just yet but I must confess to being very excited at the prospect of getting away (and going to Turkey I might add) - given that we booked this last October it is perhaps understandable!

In the meantime though, I have to survive long enough to get to our departure date intact (despite the best efforts of work to the contrary!) so have a plan for a couple of gaming things I can cheekily fit in over the next week or so. In the spirit of defiance to my ongoing workload and bonkers domestic schedule I have decided to run another game, tentatively for over the weekend, using Command and Colours Napoleonics as written. Obviously it will be a solo bash but I will worry about how I shall work that at the time.

Oh, and it will be something that will strike a chord with many gamers of, shall we say, a certain age or inclination....;-)
 

No comments: