On being home for the holidays...

As I look back on my early youth, holiday routines were, for a time, extremely predictable.  Thanksgiving was held by one paternal relative, with the extended family Christmas gathering held by the paternal relative that did not host Thanksgiving.  Even later when the extended family gatherings had ceased their predictable cycle, Christmas Eve and Day were always at home.  The Christmas Tree was always a real tree that sat one one particular coffee table.  Even the specific meals were part of the tradition.  Christmas Eve dinner was always a Steak and Kidney meat pie, and Christmas morning breakfast was always Eggs Benedict.  Prior to setting out on my own, this meal pattern in particular was deviated from a scant few times.

Now that I am looking forward to celebrating another Christmas Morning with my own family, I reflect on the importance of tradition.  We have established a breakfast tradition of our own with aebleskivers providing the centerpiece. While I dearly miss the Eggs Benedict, the new family tradition is something that everyone can point to as our own.

A quick note on Eggs Benedict and Hollandaise sauce.  I had resigned myself long ago to the idea that the art of a good Hollandaise sauce was wither lost in the USA, or my father did something special and strange in his preparation that I really can't do without.  I can say with great joy now that it is just restaurants in the USA that are lacking, because every time I have ordered Eggs Benedict here in Australia it has been utterly delightful.

Aside from the Christmas breakfast tradition, there are precious few things that I point to in my family that are real repeated traditions.  Especially this year, as we celebrate the Christmas holiday so far away from friends and extended family, this has been a source of some worry for my wife and I.  The cause is relatively easy to find.  While I moved once before the age of 18, as an adult I have been far more mobile.  Since I met my wife, we have not lived in any one house for more than three years.  It is hard to to put down routines when the background shifts that much.

With all of that in mind, I like to remind myself the most important tradition is one that has been maintained continuously from my youth.  Christmas Eve and Day are spent at home with the people that matter most, family.  One of my favorite sayings is "Home is where the heart is", meaning that hart is wherever one has family to share with.

Enjoy and give thanks for the peace of your home and the joy that family brings.  Also take a moment to give some thought to those who, for whatever reason, cannot be home during this holiday season. Share your own joy to the extent you can.

Now on to more serious matters...

For those of you that are not yet aware, meetup.com is a wonderful thing.  The basic premise of the site is to use the internet to get people to do things in real life.  For a gamer like me in a new environment, this is a godsend.  Tuesday night is my usual gaming night here in Melbourne, and the other regulars at this particular Meetup have come to expect me to show up with a few games from my personal collection to play and teach.

The timing of one's arrival at these events is more important that one might think.  Most of the regulars show up within 5 minutes of the opening, with the first games starting soon after.  This week I arrived about 15 minutes late.  This had real consequences on the games that I played and the other players with which I played.  With all of the regulars occupied, I got the stragglers. With the impending holiday, the general attendance was lighter than normal, so there were even fewer stragglers than normal.  These players also seemed to be unusually green and tentative.  Unfortunately most of what I brought to play consisted of more complex games.  The feeling that I was getting from these players indicated that I needed to keep the offerings simple.

Game 1: Lift Off! Get Me Off This Planet!

This is a cute little semi-coop.  Your planet is about to explode and you need to get all of your alieneeples off planet.  The semi-coop nature of the game comes from the fact that it is nearly impossible to accomplish this task solely on your own.  You need help, yet there is only one winner.  Our game ended in either a two or three way tie, depending on how liberally you read the rules.  Fun was had by all.

Game 2: Between Two Cities

This tile placement, city construction game moves so fast and is relatively easy to teach, so I suggested it next.  They picked up the drafting and placement mechanics pretty quickly.  It was a nice close game, and I came out on top.  I have to say that I won largely due to experience.  The other two players were less than efficient in placing the tiles and the scores suffered accordingly.  I am sure that will get better in subsequent games.

Game 3: Tsuro

The Game of the Path is one of my go-to games when I need something that is fast setup, fast playing, and takes little effort to teach.  Place a tile, follow the line, draw new tile.  Can't get simpler than that.  Played two games.  Fun had by all.

I watch my wonderful wife herd the stoned sheep that once were my children through the bedtime routine.  Once this is done, there should be, in theory, enough energy for she and I to play a game or two before we go to bed ourselves (and the real games begin).

What we eventually sit down to is an abstract that I picked up some time ago called Array.  You have a series of colored cards in your hand with 2, 3, or 4 colors on them.  Your goal is to add cards to the Array on the table by matching colors in your hand with open ends of the Array.  You can also chain moves together, slice the existing Array into two, as well as a few other moves.  First one to play out their hand wins the round.  Fun little game.  I could see it being more fun over many rounds and with more people.  My only complaint is with the cards themselves.  Odd shaped cards are always a pain to stack and shuffle.

Good food, good company, good games, good scotch.  It is a wonderful life.