Enjoying Summer in Faerûn
We returned home the night of Wednesday, July 17, 2024; just in time to pick up our cat, Kovu, from the babysitter, Amy a friend of Kovu's and Helen's former roommate, before we left for Tahoe. When we arrived at Amy's it was clear that Kovu had acclimated to his new living arrangement and was quiet ungrateful to see us. Maybe he could sense the pending threat of being shoved into the cat carrier that was purchased when he was a small kitten and has shrunk in size now that he's the not-on-a-diet cat we have today. Or maybe he realized he was going to go from hanging out with Amy to two days with us followed by a weekend alone with the automated Robot feeder while we were in Tahoe. Either way, Kovu cowered under Amy's bed. We won't spare you the details: Amy had to cut off Kovu's escape on the far end while Helen army-crawled into his hidey hole. In fear of a friendly face Kovu gave a gutless meow as Helen finally clawed him into a soft embrace. Recognizing that Helen could use another set of arms, Adam stood up from the couch. He grabbed Helen's ankles and pulled her and Kovu across the hardwood floors and into the light. Kovu was now corralled. On the ride home he meowed incessantly; which we imagine is his way of saying "I'm not mad at you, I'm just disappointed in the situation and need some time to process my emotions."
A couple days later we topped off Kovu's robot feeder and water bowl. Helen also opened the emergency water source, "the toilet". (Despite Kovu's cultured upbringing he's developed a down-to-earth love of toilet water). Content that Kovu could survive for 48 hours we picked up a few friends for a five hour drive to the North Lake Tahoe area. We enjoyed the weekend, played games, shared a few laughs, and even rented a boat to get a real taste of California Summer.
After returning from home from Tahoe it was finally time to explore the world of Faerûn in Baulder's Gate 3, a game we've been itching to play for the past year and a half. We cocooned ourselves on the couch, booted up the Playstation 5, and began the intensive process of character creation. Our virtual characters are Red, a drow Rogue Assassin, and Juvia, a tiefling Sorcerer. After 25 hours of gameplay we've saved a grieving widow from a diabolical witch, deescalated conflicts between the druids and the Tieflings of Emerald grove, and even saved some gnomes from a life of enslavement.
In between our virtual conquest of good over evil, we managed to go on runs and bike rides through Golden Gate Park, cook large batches of chicken stock, get dinner with our closest SF friends, play disc golf (Adam's managed to squeeze in 6 rounds in the last 7 days), host a game night, host book club, and make a Costco run. Whew! We're enjoying our leisure time with each other, but there's still chores that need doing, trips that need planning, and Baulder's Gate that needs playing. Reflecting on the last month we've come to realize that life without work is indeed less stressful, but still, there's never enough time in the day.
Next up on the destination list is Peoria, Illinois. Today we're flying to O'Hare where we'll travel to Peoria with Adam's brother and father to watch the first two days of the Ledgestone Open, a professional disc golf tournament. Afterwards we'll drive with Adam's family to New Buffalo, Michigan for a week of relaxing Midwest summer and family time along the great Lake Michigan.
