The Year in Review 2014 - Distractions and Diversions

Having covered the most important stuff - family - in an earlier post, I'll cover the remaining odds and ends here...

Hiking and Outdoors
I spent less time doing short little hikes around home than I have in any recent year, but there were two very good trips that did happen. The first was an overnight trip to Rickett's Glen State Park in northeastern PA in April, and the second was a three day trip to West Virginia in June.

Rickett's Glen was a two day trip, the second day to actually hike the park, the first day to drive up. Dave and I left early and did a bunch of geocaching on the way to the hotel, which was one of my more interesting caching expeditions of the year. The hike itself was truly spectacular, and everything it was hyped up to be.

Rickett's Glen

The West Virginia trip was also memorable for the scenery, the companionship, the hikes, and the marvelous campsite with a view of Sunset Rocks.

Sunset Rocks WV

The Sunday we spent hiking in the Dolly Sods Wilderness was a hot and grueling day, but the scenery was some of the prettiest I have seen in the East. I would gladly go back to that area again.

Dolly Sods Wilderness WV

With one of our regulars planning a big trip to Ireland for his 50th, there will not be a big trip this year, but the plan is to make up for that by squeezing in a few long-weekend trips, like West Virginia was this year. There are a multitude of nice places to go within a 4-5 hour driving radius, and I'm sure we can come up with something good.

Music and Concerts
I didn't get to see as much live music as I would have liked this year (not counting musicals and special events with the family). Anthony and I saw The Musical Box in Wilmington in January, and I saw Justin Hayward again in Wilmington in May.

Justin Hayward in Wilmington at the World Cafe

The Tedeschi Trucks Band near home in Aston in June was the last concert of the year.

Tedeschi Trucks Band in Aston PA

2014 also saw the arrival of yet another guitar in the house, an Epiphone EJ-200CE acoustic electric. I'm still a hack, but perhaps a little better than before. Actual practice would improve that, but for whatever reason, it never seems to happen. So you get what you get. And speaking of getting - no more guitars. Probably.

Epiphone EJ-200CE

Reading
As always, I read a ton this year, with only the tip of the iceberg getting documented here. Fifteen fiction books (posted about separately), lots of short stories, lots of history and wargaming materials, and lastly (and quite unexpected) I think I read through an entire file box of old Dungeons and Dragons stuff I had kept from years ago. That jaunt down memory lane sure brought back a lot of fond memories.

Writing
Blogging would also have to be considered a hobby unto itself given the time and effort put into it. All told, across three blogs, I have written more than ever before. This will be post number 138 for this, my main blog, and I have also managed to squeeze in 28 posts on the D&D campaign blog and 19 more on the food blog. Perhaps I should do more and write less, although I certainly do enjoy the writing on its own merits. It's a balance I guess. Most of these posts are fairly easy and quick to write, and it has proven very nice to be able to go back and reread posts and look at pictures from as far back as 2009, when I first began.

Dungeons and Dragons

From a hobby/fun-time activity perspective, this is the year I remembered how much I loved playing D&D as a kid, and started playing again as an adult. Five of us have played four sessions beginning in October, and may get one more in over the holidays. I love the pure unfettered creativity of it, and we all seem to be having a good time, which is all that counts.

Kingdom of Alsberg

Cooking
I may not have blogged about too many recipes, but I think I probably did a better job this year than usual in actually trying new and different recipes out of all the cookbooks we have accumulated over the years. Most used book of the year was without question Giada at Home by Giada de Laurentiis. Every one we make turns out great so we just keep trying more. Grace continues to show some interest in cooking, so it is nice to have a helper in the kitchen with me sometimes.

25 Year Old Easter Treat

Geocaching
It's pretty safe to say that I have become an occasional geocacher at best. I still enjoy it, but more often than not it's really only something that hits my radar screen when I will be traveling to someplace new or unusual and have a chance to grab a new state or a new county. The modicum of interest that the kids had in the first year or two that I did this has worn off for them, and they have no interest in going out with me, so that limits my interest in going out just to go out. Geocaching as a solo endeavor doesn't hold much appeal anymore, although if I have an opportunity to get out in the woods for a walk somewhere, I would still rather pick a place that has geocaches than not. I guess in that regard, I have become a geocacher very much like brother Dave has always been. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Geocaching our way to Rickett's Glen

Perhaps the best part of writing these year end posts is not in the remembering of what has gone before, but to begin to think about the future; not what have we done this year, but what experiences are yet to come. Places to go. Things to see and do. Interests to explore. In other words, life to live.

The Year in Review 2014 - Literature

After reading almost no fiction at all in 2013, I got back on that particular horse and managed to get in a decent amount of fiction reading this year.

At the halfway point of the year, posted in summary here on June 30, I had read 11 books by ten different authors. Over the second half of the year I was mainly reading history and wargaming stuff, but did mange to get in 4 more fiction books, all by authors I had read before.

Total books: 15 (by 11 different authors, including 6 new ones for me).
Total pages: 4,386.

Best books of the year for me in 2014 (in order):

• The Painter by Peter Heller. A marvelous work by someone I hadn't read before. My only five star book this year.
• The Son by Philipp Meyer. Another sensational (and big) book by the author of American Rust, one of my favorite books of 2009.
• A terrific pair by Wiley Cash (another new author for me); This Dark Road to Mercy and the almost equally good A Land More Kind than Home.

There were other good books, but these were cream of the crop this year for me.

Full year summary (new authors for me in italics):

• 5 - The Painter (Peter Heller)
• 4.5 - The Son (Philipp Meyer)
• 4.5 - This Dark Road to Mercy (Wiley Cash)
• 4 - A Land More Kind Than Home (Wiley Cash)
• 4 - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Junot Diaz)
• 4 - The Realm of Last Chances (Steve Yarbrough)
• 4 - Buying a Fishing Rod for my Grandfather [Stories] (Gao Xingjian)
• 4 - St Burl's Obituary (Daniel Akst)
• 3.5 - Netherland (Joseph O'Neill)
• 3.5 - The Burgess Boys (Elizabeth Strout)
• 3.5 - There Must Be Some Mistake (Frederick Barthelme)
• 3.5 - The Brothers (Frederick Barthelme)
• 3.5 - Drown [Stories] (Junot Diaz)
• 2.5 - Two Against One (Frederick Barthelme)
• 4.5 - The Vintage Caper (Peter Mayle) 

I was fortunate enough to get a pair of fiction books for Christmas that I have been looking forward to reading, and I am partway into one of those but will likely not finish it before the end of the year. (All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - absolutely terrific so far).

The Year in Review - 2014 - Family

December is winding down, and my thoughts wander back across the year that is drawing to a close. First and foremost, the girls (all three, big and little) are healthy and happy. I could stop there and consider the year a success.

But that would make for a very short year end post, so I will soldier on....

High School and Musicals
Julia is in the middle of tenth grade and doing well. She is beginning some preliminary job training, and is involved in a lot of activities. She's a very busy young lady.

March was probably the highlight of her year, being involved in the production of Les Miserables, her favorite thing of all time.

Les Miz - Makeup call for Bystander number 2

I am especially proud of the amount of time and work that she put into the play, and equally happy that despite all the work she wants to be involved in all the musicals going forward. This continued with The Little Mermaid in December where she was a chorus fish in the Sea Chorus, which included a new part time career for Amp as a costume designer and seamstress.

Les Miz Opening Night w/Uncle Let

Julia also puts a lot of time in cheerleading with the Spirit Squad, and competes in three or four local area competitions every Spring. I should also note here that we are all very grateful to the local Whole Foods Market and the Whole Foods Foundation, which made a very generous donation to the squad to cover uniforms and other costs.

Spirit Squad

Julia also continues to compete in Special Olympics bowling and swimming, where Grace is a "unified partner" and swims relays with her sister.

Special Olympics Bowling

Wrapping up Elementary School
Having a daughter the age that Grace is now is a constant (and somewhat unwelcome) reminder of just how fast kids grow up. It seems like just yesterday that we were carrying her around because she was so little and she couldn't keep up. Now I can't keep up with her.

She is doing very well in school, but one of the more gratifying things for me is that she is involved in a lot of musical things, and shows a very good aptitude for it. She is about one year into piano lessons, and her teacher calls her "my little prodigy." She is also now in her second year of clarinet and is doing well enough that her teacher recommended that she move up from the starter (plastic) clarinet to a real wooden one. Have I mentioned how expensive real musical instruments are? Egads. Anyway, as much as I love music, that is an expense I'll gladly deal with. Between the instruments and chorus, there is something musical going on at all times (which is how I would choose to have it).

Casted ankle - January

Gymnastics continues as well, along with the periodically gimpy ankle that comes along with that. Six weeks in a walking cast seems to have helped some, but not completely. Apparently, this is something that they believe she will just grow out of. Fingers crossed...

Glasses in August

I couldn't possibly be more proud of both of them.

Around the House
Having been in this house 17 years now (really?!?), there are no shortage of rooms that we would like to re-do and other projects that need addressing. Grace and Julia both some new pieces of furniture this year, and I am in the middle of finishing up the crown molding in Julia's room and then repainting it. The main floor powder room got a complete cosmetic reno including crown and trim moldings and a repaint.

Printer table

Lastly, we put some power tools to use and made some new custom furniture for ourselves. Julia got a modified version of a console table, and I got a perfectly sized printer stand and end table for my office. I still have a hard time looking at the printer table and believing that I made it with my own two hands (it looks too good).

Getting Out and About
One of the commitments we have made to ourselves is that we will try to expose the kids to as much culture as we can, and hopefully do it in a way that they will enjoy. This year we got them to see a Cirque de Soleil Michael Jackson show in Philadelphia, Stomp at the Dupont Theater in Wilmington, Aladdin on Broadway, and Mary Poppins in Philadelphia to round out the year.

Aladdin on Broadway

We also got to Washington DC again in the spring (to see Mount Vernon) and Avalon NJ in the summer (for the beach), as well as many trips to our in-laws in New Jersey.

Mount Vernon

Thinking about what all we did this year makes me start thinking about what we can do in 2015. Most of all, I just hope that everyone stays happy and healthy. That would be plenty.

Christmas Gifty Goodness

It was primarily a book year this year for me in terms of gifts. Trolling Amazon identified a likely list of candidates, and these are the ones that ended up making the cut.

Christmas library additions

The history books are a pair by Desmond Seward (The Demon's Brood; A History of the Plantagenet Dynasty and The Warrior King and the Invasion of France - an Agincourt campaign book). The first is new in 2014, the second is a new 2014 edition of a 1988 book. There is also The Hundred Years War; A People's History by David Green and The Greatest Knight (a life of William Marshal) by Thomas Asbridge (both new in 2014). I have read some of Seward before, and have read Asbridge's Crusades books as well as Green's Poitiers book, so I am pretty sure I will like all of these.

As for the fiction, I like Johnson, and the Anthony Doerr book is one of the best regarded books of the year. I think I read one of Doerr's short story collections a few years back and liked it. As I write this, I am 45 pages into All the Light We Cannot See.

I also got a few packs of miniatures to fill in gaps in some periods, and hopefully will make some painting progress on some of those before too long (house guests leave for home tonight and I can put my painting area back together again). These new packs include muslim infantry and archers, Bedouin light cavalry and Arab armored cavalry (all of which can be used for Crusades or southern Italy) as well as a couple packs of early crossbowmen and German foot knights (mainly to be used as commanders on bases of common infantry).

Watching the kids enjoy the holidays is by far the best part of the season, but getting some presents is always nice too.

Christmas 2014

Another Christmas Day is winding down, and we have a house full of content people. Us, kids, in-laws and nieces. And of course Uno, their dog.

We have been stuffed with good food (a light Mediterranean Baked Cod last night to give us room for the meat-fest of standing rib roast today) and good drink.

Christmas Eve - Mediterranean Cod

Gingerbread houses have been made. Fresh Santa cookies have been baked, laid on the hearth, and were gone this morning. I bet Santa liked them a lot.

Cookies for Santa...or just playing

Shockingly enough, not a peep was heard from the girls until 7:45 this morning, which I think must be a new record. Despite a few moments of less than ideal behavior, Santa did come again this year, and pampered the kids as he usually (always) does.

Christmas Morning - The Calm before the Storm

Toys and games, video games and clothes for Julia. A new iPod Touch, Beats headphones and some books for Grace. Plus footie pajamas, a surprise gift request (but you do have to love footie pajamas...). Tennis stuff and some clothes and books for Amp. Books for me (4 history, 2 fiction). And a new iMac for the house, to replace the old slow PC in the basement. No more fighting for the one good Mac. (Mine mine mine.)

Footie pajamas!

It was a very relaxing day in which we were able to do absolutely nothing but sit around the house and relax in the company of family, capped off by an easy but excellent 8pm dinner (prime rib roast, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy and ratatouille).

Everybody had a great day, especially the kids. By the time dinner was done and the dishes taken care of, and after a few glasses of wine and 45 pages of reading into one of my new books, I dropped off to sleep, a happy Daddy.

Not having to go back to work until Monday January 5th doesn't hurt either. Ten more days off. But who's counting...

Mary Poppins at the Walnut Street Theatre

With the kids having enjoyed the Broadway shows we have seen in the past, and with us looking to do something different for the holidays (rather than seeing the Nutcracker again), Amp got us tickets to see Mary Poppins at the Walnut Street Theatre on Tuesday December 23.

In short, the show was terrific. It was true to the screen version with all of its famous songs, but had enough additional music and variations to the plot that it made for a sense of seeing something familiar and yet new at the same time. The playbill lists 7 new songs added for the stage production, a few of which (along with Chim Chim Cher-ee) provide the recurring musical foundation of the show. The central theme of saving Mr. Banks is also more of a direct focus of the stage show, including an additional important character that helps explain some things.

The show was in two acts, each about an hour and a quarter, with a 20 minute intermission in between. All told, it started a little after 8 and ended a little before 11. The kids loved it (we all did), but it was a long evening for them, being about 11:45pm when we got home (with holiday house guests having arrived while we were out - so more excitement for the kids).

The cast was terrific, with David Elder as Bert, Jeffrey Coon as George Banks, Rebecca Robbins as Winifred Banks, and Lindsey Bliven as Mary Poppins. Nobody can match Julie Andrews, but Ms. Bliven came very close. She had an amazing, bright and clear soprano voice. Remarkable.

The sets were straight forward but very nicely done, the effects were very good, and the song and dance numbers were great. It was also fun to see Mary Poppins fly, although given the relatively small
stage of the WST, there wasn't a ton of room to work with for that effect. My understanding when this was on Broadway was that she actually flew over the audience a little bit, but that wasn't possible in this little old place.

The Walnut Street Theatre itself had a lot of charm, and is billed as the oldest theater in America. It was on the small side, with cramped lobbies, stairways and aisles, but had that wonderful charm of an old building.

A great evening and a highly recommended show. It will make you feel young again!

Merry Christmas to All...

...and to all a good night.

Two fishes, not seven

Parents were wishing they were snug in their beds...

Ready for Santa

And kids are bouncing off the walls.

As it should be.

Happy Holidays and a happy healthy New Years to all....

The Year in Review 2014 - Figure Painting

I am getting a jump on some of the blogger-required end of year recap posts, as we have family coming to stay for the holidays soon, and I expect free time will be at a bit of a premium over the next week or so. Specifically, with the basement painting table cleared and briefly put into storage, the chances of me getting any substantial painting time in is unlikely. I may have some time next week (I hope to...), but whatever I accomplish in those last few days won't change my year end position by much if at all...

Always more medievals

In summary, 2014 may have been my most productive year of painting output in memory, or maybe ever. I paint on the slow side, and paint in spurts, with weeks or even months in some cases between bursts of activity. This year really wasn't any different, but a few of the bursts I had, notably in April/May and October/November were more sustained than usual.

In 25mm mounted, I painted 55 figures:

• 36 German knights, some totally repainted and some new.
• 6 Ottoman akinji light cavalry.
• 3 Ottoman sipahis.
• 10 mounted crossbows.

In 25mm foot I painted 84 figures:

• 56 Norman heavy infantry.
• 10 Hundred Years War crossbows.
• 12 voynuk heavy infantry.
• 6 medieval civilians.

In 15mm WW2, 87 pieces of various types:

• 10 US tanks.
• 8 US trucks.
• 6 US jeeps.
• 3 German tanks.
• 6 US antitank guns.
• 12 US gun crew.
• 42 US infantry.

And in terrain:

• 12 buildings in 15mm.
• Many bocage/hedge terrain pieces.
• Some modular road sections.
• Three 4' by 6' terrain boards of foam insulation board and green tie-dye fleece (more on these later). In addition to the three boards (two of which are perfectly flat), I made 10-12 hill pieces of various sizes and shapes that can be used with the boards (made of the same carved foam and glued-on fleece).

I'm pretty sure I painted a few more things, but I couldn't remember what...

To this total should be added the fact that I spent a lot of time in various increments throughout the year brightening up and partially repainting some of my older figures (German medievals, generic medievals and Normans especially). In all, this probably encompassed dozens of mounted figures and well over a hundred foot figures.

A village worth of buildings

Heading into 2015, there are a bunch of figures in various stages of painting that should be showing up in blog posts at some point, and a lot more figures after that which have been prepped and primed and are waiting in the wings. These include large batches of Ottoman armored and unarmored sipahis, Ottoman foot of several kinds, Hungarians to go against the Ottomans, lots of 15mm WW2 German infantry and US paratroops, German vehicles (8-10 halftracks and a dozen or so tanks), French Hundred Years War infantry of various kinds, and the list goes on. If I didn't prep and prime another figure, I doubt I could get through what I have ready to go in 2015. That's a good thing.

Tanks and Trucks and Jeeps

Lastly, as far as my figure collecting goes, I finally came to terms with reality and sold off some of my little children (actually, lots of them). Flea market tables at Cold Wars and Fall In were both good to me in terms of selling off distractions, diversions, and things I will never either paint, or use if already painted. At one end of the spectrum is what my figure collection would ideally look like with regards to periods and scales (given my primary interests), and at the other end of the spectrum is the unfocused "little bit of everything that ever caught my fancy gone haywire" approach. It's probably fair to say that I started the year much closer to the latter, and have ended the year well closer to the ideal than I began. I won't reach the ideal in my lifetime, but it's the journey that counts. More progress will be made this year.

Book Review - The Brothers

Back in October, I read two books by Frederick Barthelme, liking one and disliking the other. I thought There Must be Some Mistake was a solid effort typical of Barthelme's last few novels, and thought the much earlier Two Against One was the worst of his I had read (by quite a bit). Perhaps to wash the taste of T.A.O. out of my mouth, I went back and read another of his older novels; The Brothers (Viking, 1993, 262 pages).

This was back in late October or early November but I never got around to blogging about it. By now, details are fuzzy, but The Brothers was another good read of the type that I expect from Barthelme - believable everyday people getting on with their lives as best they can. This particular book is about a pair of brothers, struggling with their careers and their relationship with each other, and not doing an especially good job of either.

There is a follow up book to this (which is sitting on my night stand), but I am Barthelmed-out for the moment, and will move on to something else before going back to that at some point.

"The birds were amazing, the way they flew and then folded up like daggers and slammed into the water. Everything was turning a wonderful gunmetal gray. There were a few yellow lights shimmering on the water, reflected from car lights up on the big highway.
Fog was coming in from the Gulf, and it was thick. Out toward the mouth of the bay, toward the Gulf, it looked as though the water went maybe half a mile and then stopped dead. Everything past that was gray." [p79]

A solid 3.5 stars out of 5.

The Little Mermaid - Opening Night

After a couple of months and countless hours of preparation, Garnet Valley High School's production of The Little Mermaid opened Thursday 12/4 and ran for four shows over three days. Once again, it seemed like a smashing success to me, with great performances, music, sets and costumes.

The most important thing for me is that Julia had a great time doing it, just like she did for Les Miserables last spring. She was a fish in the "sea chorus" and was in (I think) four scenes as part of the background chorus. She's already talking about Oliver! in the spring, where she gets to be an orphan/urchin.

Somewhere along the way, Amp's involvement changed from sewing a few costumes into what seemed like a seven day a week job for two months. Our spare room upstairs and the dining room turned into a design studio and our own little costume factory. She did a great job, and it was fun to watch the show and pick out all the different things that she designed or otherwise worked on. I know that her commitment and effort was very much appreciated.

A few videos posted on YouTube of the show:

• Part of Your World (White Cast - more underclassmen in Lead roles)
• Under the Sea (Garnet Cast - more seniors in Lead roles)
• Under the Sea (White Cast)
• Les Poissons (White Cast)
• I Want the Good Times Back (Garnet Cast)
• She's In Love (Garnet Cast)
• Kiss the Girl (Garnet Cast)

The more I see of these shows and understand what goes into putting them on, the more impressed I become. It takes a tremendous effort by an awful lot of people to put on a show involving upwards of 150 students ranging from the main bulk of high school students supplemented with backing roles for kids in middle school and even elementary school. Grace, in 5th grade, is already asking about getting involved in the future. That's a very nice thought.

Congratulations to all involved in a terrific show.

Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge

Something I have followed on other's blogs in past years is the Analogue Hobbies annual painting challenge. Basically, people pick a target number of points, and (this year) have between December 5 and March 20, 2015 to amass as many points as they can. Points are awarded based on type of figure and scale. Given that I paint almost exclusively in 25/28mm, to me this would mean 5 points for each foot figure and 10 points for each mounted figure (or artillery piece). If I were to do some additional 15mm WW2 painting, these would be 2 points per foot figure and 6 points per vehicle.

In the official challenge, figures must be painted, based and flocked (in other words, completely done), and then submitted to the website via photo with description. I don't intend to officially enter the Challenge, but I do intend to paint along on my own. I will score my results the same way.

With that in mind, given that the cold winter "indoor" months are upon us, I will challenge myself with a stretch goal of 1,000 points. This would be a lot of painting for me to tackle in 3 months (a year's worth in some cases). To accomplish this would require painting 4 bags of Old Glory foot (120 figs for 600 points) and 4 bags of Old Glory mounted (40 figs for 400 points).

Under the contest rules, figures could be prepped and primed before 12/5, but no paint could be applied before then for a figure to qualify. By those rules, I will have completed 12 foot figures for 60 points as soon as I get the Voynuks based up - they were painted on the 6th and 7th. I have Ottoman sipahis and a few Spanish jinetes in process that will not qualify, but lots after that that will.

If nothing else, this gives me a little bit of focus and perhaps some sense of urgency. I don't generally set painting goals, but this might be fun to try. We'll see how it goes...

[12/14/14] - In retrospect... Looking back at the above a few days later, I must have been out of my mind. A more reasonable goal would be 500 points, taking into account that there are other hobby things going on these days, such as running our fledgling D&D campaign. But I did say 1,000 points, so I'll stick to that. And when I fail (most likely badly), I can say "I told me so!"

Painting Table - Mounted Crossbows and Voynuks

This past week, and the weekend, was primarily about the Fall musical, The Little Mermaid, but in and around those obligations I was able to continue to make some painting progress.

The first four mounted crossbowmen pictured previously were finished, along with the other six in the pack, giving me 5 stands of mounted crossbows. All that remains is to flock and finish the bases (and take a good final picture). From a painting standpoint, they are complete.

Five stands of mounted crossbows

I also spent a little time prepping part of a bag of Old Glory 12th Century Infantry, which are a good multi-purpose medieval foot pack. You can never have too many basic foot in this period. My only complaint with this pack (which is a joy to paint) is that prepping them is a pain in the a$%, especially drilling out and attaching the separate spear-holding hands. These figures could have been designed a lot better in that regard...

The next small project (skipping over the mostly complete Ottoman sipahi cavalry that need some additional work) is a unit of 12 Voynuk heavy infantry allies for the Ottomans. These are proving to be exceptionally easy figures to paint, being mostly chainmail and other armor, with only some bits of cloth and shields to paint. In a short period of time, these are probably more than half done, and should be easy to complete in a couple of short evening sessions this week.

Ottoman Christian Voynuks in process

After the Voynuks I really should get back to the sipahis, but we'll see what mood strikes me at that point.

Feel Good Flash Mob Fun

Don't ask me how I got here (OK, it involved searching YouTube for anything that might have been uploaded on our high school's new musical production, clicking a link, clicking another link, and another, and so on...down the rat hole I go...).

Some of them were enjoyable enough, or holiday appropriate enough, to capture...

The British Army band flash-mobbing Christmas carols in an English mall.

The US Air Force Band flash-mobbing holiday music at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

A Choral group flash-mobbing America the Beautiful to a service man and his family at a mall.

And lastly, the cast of a professional production of Les Miserables flash-mobbing One Day More at an Orlando Florida mall.

They made me smile... Happy holidays!

Delle Donne Basketball Day

Way back on Sunday November 9, Julia had the opportunity to participate in something that ended up being an absolutely wonderful experience.

We were emailed by one of the Special Olympics people that WNBA star player and Wilmington native Elena Delle Donne was doing a girls basketball academy on that Sunday, and that there were a few spots being given to Special Olympics athletes, and would Julia like to take part. Of course we said yes.

The session was 4 hours of drills and instruction at the Tatnall School in north Wilmington. Approximately 60 very talented basketball girls of middle school and high school age took part. The girls were divided into two large teams, with each large team subdivided into three smaller teams (a total of 6). Many of the drills were conducted in the form of relay races and competitions between the 6 smaller teams. The Special Olympics athletes were divided among the teams, and took part in all the drills with as little accommodation as possible; our athletes were integrated into everything that was going on. It was very gratifying that most of the typical athletes were very supportive and helpful, with only a few minor bits of obvious frustration at those who couldn't really keep up.

Delle Donne Academy - Drills

As for Elena Delle Donne, I couldn't be more appreciative and impressed with this young woman. Read the linked Wikipedia entry if interested, as her story is an interesting one. The short version is that she was one of the top women's basketball recruits in the country coming out of high school in Wilmington. She got a full scholarship to UConn, but bailed on that out of the desire to stay home and be near her family, particularly her handicapped sister. She ended up being a star at the University of Delaware, was drafted second overall into the WNBA, and was WNBA rookie of the year. She's 25 years old now, and plays for the Chicago Sky.

Besides for all the athletic stardom, Elena couldn't have been nicer at this session. She ran the entire session (with help from some friends, apparently including some who were teammates in college). She also really paid attention to the Special Olympics athletes. Each of the 6 or 7 that were there got at least 5-10 minutes of individual attention from Elena while drills were going on, and she was wonderful with them. At one point Julia came off the floor and stood beside me, overloaded from all the activity going on. Elena saw her, came over, and asked if Julia was OK. I said, sure, she just needs a moment to regroup. Elena smiled and asked if Julia would like to help her coach while she was resting. Julia loved the idea, and spent the next 10 minutes in the center of the floor with Elena while she ran drills.  It was very cute; Julia at 5 foot 2 inches standing next to Elena at 6 foot 5 inches. The first time Elena blew her whistle, Julia jumped and covered her ears. Elena noticed, and after that each time Elena was about to blow the whistle, she would tap Julia on the shoulder, Julia would cover her ears, and she would whistle when Julia was ready. Very cute.

Julia assistant coaching

It was a long day for Julia - 4 hours of physical activity is an awful lot for her, but she liked it very much. Julia loves being a part of things, and this was certainly a special event.

5 foot 2 inches, and 6 foot 5.

Thanks to Elena Delle Donne, the other coaches and athletes, and the Special Olympics folks for getting Julia involved.

Thanksgiving 2014

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. Another wonderful meal has been prepared and eaten. With family. Football was watched (including the beloved Eagles dismantling the hated Cowboys 33-10). Every pot, pan, plate and cup was used. The fridge was stuffed, then emptied, then stuffed again. The kitchen was trashed, and then cleaned. Kids were (eventually) happily put to bed, with Grace's final smiling words before sleep being "I...ate...three...pieces...of...pie...".

I don't think any of us that were here and fortunate enough to spend the day together forgot what the day is supposed to be all about. Being thankful for what we have, and enjoying it in the company of family. I am luckier than most, and far more blessed than I deserve, and for that I am very grateful.

Thanksgiving for me has also become a time to remember my father, since he died shortly before Thanksgiving in 2010. So pardon the indulgence as I raise a glass to him. Four years ago today we laid him to rest, but I do not forget. Black Friday, indeed. I still remain in awe of a time when a 17 year old would lie about his age to fight in a war a half a world away. Bravery, as they say, is ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Sometimes just volunteering to show up is extraordinary.

Service in France and Germany, 1944-1946

To anybody out there, Happy American Thanksgiving, and a joyous holiday season yet to come...

Painting Table - Mounted Crossbows

There's a lot going on this weekend, not the least of which is pulling out the Christmas decorations, but if I have any time for hobby stuff this weekend I will have the very modest goal of finishing this unit of four mounted crossbowmen. There isn't much left to do but some detail work, highlighting and finishing of the horses, so this should be very manageable.

Mounted crossbows (Old Glory Hundred Years War)

There are six more on the table beyond the first four, and a number of medieval civilian types for dressing up the little towns that often hug the sides of the gaming table. If I do get past the first four mounted crossbowmen, I will probably return to the Ottoman sipahis that I was working on before getting sidetracked. Or not. Hard to say.

I've also spent a few spare moments tweaking the table slightly from the solo game I played last weekend. I'll try to post a few pictures tomorrow. A variant of my solo game will be used for an upcoming game to introduce one of our D&D players to historical miniatures gaming.

Impetus - Germans vs Italians, The End

Part 3, The End
Turn 10 - On the Italian right, a timely charge by arriving knights from the last command succeed in routing German knights while the remainder of the command hurries to deploy.

Turn 10 - Italians charging up the hill

In the center, both sides have taken a beating, and the long-engaged German sergeants and Italian light cavalry are rolling one die apiece to try to break the stalemate (to no avail). On the Italian left, two units of heavy cavalry charge up the hill into the German infantry, but both become bogged down in ongoing melees. More and more German foot troops deploy and move up the hill.

Turn 10 - End of turn

Turn 11 - On the Italian right, knights engage each other in a swirling melee while the last of the German knights hurry to support them. The Germans have now been split so that all of their remaining infantry are clustered around the hill near town, and their cavalry is all gathered in the plain below.

Turn 11 - Italian knights bogged down on the hill

In the center, the German sergeants finally rout the valiant light cavalry, but are now by themselves in that part of the battlefield, surrounded on three sides by enemy and hanging on by a thread. There aren't many Germans left on the plain.

Turn 11 - Germans faltering in the center

On the hill, the Italian cavalry launches repeated charges at the German crossbows and infantry, and makes little headway. The impetuous Italian cavalry has outpaced their infantry supports, and are taking some losses in the attempt to drive the German foot off the hill.

Turn 12 - On the Italian right, the German horse pulls back, forming some semblance of a line. In the center, the German sergeants rout from the combined shooting of two Italian bow units.

Turn 12 - End of turn

On the hill, the Italian cavalry destroy a crossbow unit on the crest, but take losses in the process, and both units move to the rear to regroup. German infantry forms a solid line on the hill as the Italians recoil.

Turn 13 (The End) - No units are engaged in the turn, and both sides take the opportunity to reform their lines.

Turn 13 - The End

Wrap up - At the end of turn 13, it was apparent that the battle had reached a logical end point. On the open level ground, the Germans only had three somewhat battered knight units opposing the bulk of two Italian commands. The Italians facing them had taken some losses as well, but had sufficient combined arms numbers to make a renewed attack by the Germans suicidal. At the other end of the field, the Italian knights were fairly well spent by their unsupported assaults on the hill, which was now lined with a solid wall of fresh German foot and crossbowmen. The logical conclusion is that the German cavalry would cover the withdrawal of the infantry back through the town, leaving the field to Italians. The Italians would be able to claim a decent victory, losing three of their own units while routing six German units (including all four units of the German vanguard), but with a number of battered units of their own.

Summary and Conclusions - As noted before, I like Impetus as a rule set. It is a little simplistic in places, and a little too rigid for my tastes in others, but makes for a fast playing and fun game. It gives a good feel for this period, which is something of an accomplishment in that the rules are designed to be able to play anything from ancients through the Renaissance (basically everything before true gunpowder periods).

As for this particular game, I enjoyed playing it solo, and have a good idea of how I will create a scenario somewhat similar to this for when we are able to get the guys together for a real game.

It also continues the urge to paint. I wish I had some of those 12th century infantry primed and ready...

Impetus - Germans vs Italians, Part 2

Part 2 - The Fighting Starts
Turn 5 - Some desultory shooting occurs, to no effect. Both sides jockey for position in the center while rushing up reinforcements. German knights head for the open ground supporting the center, while the new foot troops head for the hill. The Italian command all heads down the road behind their lines in the direction of the hill (on their left flank).

Turn 5 - Jockeying for position

Turn 6 - The Italian scutiferi light cavalry shoot at the sergeants to their front, disordering them. In their turn, the German sergeants both charge. The first unit engages the archers, beat them and force them back, but have insufficient pursuit movement to catch them as they retreat (this would almost certainly have finished them off). The other unit of sergeants charges the light cavalry, who evade. The second commands continue to march.

Turn 6 - German sergeants charge

Turn 7 - The Italian light cavalry continue to harass the sergeants, shooting at them and causing Disorder and one loss. A unit of Italian feudal infantry wheels and charges into the side of the unit of sergeants that was driving back the archers. Both take one loss, disorder, and remain engaged. In the German turn, these units fight again, with each taking one loss but with the Germans winning. The Italian foot retreat 1 inch, are pursued and caught. In the next round of fighting, no damage is caused and they remain engaged yet again. This foot unit was performing heroically (and it would get even better...).

Turn 7 - Melees ongoing in the center

Turn 8 - The Italian first command won the initiative and had a solid turn. The light cavalry shot at the sergeants to their front, caused a loss (double Disorder), and then charged them, inflicting another double Disorder loss, and remaining engaged with them (yes, I did this wrong by the rules - the light cavalry would have retreated from an engaged melee with heavy cavalry...oh well). I chalk this up to extreme bravery since they had been fighting so well.

During turn 8 - Sergeants fighting Italian foot

The engaged unit of Italian foot continue to fight the German sergeants, and miraculously hold them off (bad dice all around). 

In the German activation, a newly arrived unit of German knights charges the other Italian feudal foot unit and routs it in one combat. The German knights pursue only 1 inch, but are now behind the other engaged Italian foot unit. It looks like that heroic unit's days are numbered. Both engaged units of sergeants fight their opponents again, and both take a loss from double Disorder (remaining engaged) while the Italians both avoid damage. The improbable continues, and both German sergeant units are wearing away faster than their weaker opponents...

Turn 8 - Lines forming in the center

Over by the hill, the Italian knights move up to threaten the German crossbows and foot holding the high ground, and look to be in position to charge next turn. Crossbow fire Disorders the lead Italian knight unit.

The last command for each side arrives on the table and march forward.

Turn 9 - The German first command activates, thinking that things must get better. They don't. The Italian foot rout the first sergeant unit, and the light cavalry fights the other to a draw. Again.

The German second command activates next, and the unit of knights that had just ridden down the one Italian foot wheels and charges the one that just destroyed the sergeants. While this charge appears to be a Rear charge, it technically isn't. Still, the Germans will roll ten dice while the Italian foot rolls one die.

Turn 9 - German knights charge from behind

The charmed life of the brave foot unit continues, as neither side scores any damage (a point of damage is caused by each 6 and each pair of 5's). In ten dice, the Germans could only manage a single 5... They remain engaged.

Rolling 10 dice vs 1 die - no hits scored!!

The Italian second command activates, and the knights charge up the hill, defeating, pursuing and routing the German crossbow unit. Foot units are moving up in support.

The Italian first command activates in the center, meaning more melees for the engaged units. The light cavalry takes a loss but remains engaged. The heroic foot roll one die versus the 6 dice of the knight unit, cause 1 loss on them, and send them retreating!

Turn 9 - Italians holding on in the center

Meanwhile, more troops move up...

Turn 9 - Moving to the sound of battle

Next - The Fighting Escalates