The State of the Board
I hope this message finds you well, especially in such a tumultuous time. Kathleen and I have been very quiet of late, both in regard to Player One | Player Two podcastin’, as well as working on the blog or even my posting on Instagram. This isn’t just happenstance.
In truth, we have chosen to take a step back from things to try to reassess our place, to say nothing of going into safe/shelter mode. This isn’t just due to the pandemic, mind you, but everything happening in this country (US) right now.
The pandemic, racial strife, and dangerous political developments have made us try to refocus ourselves as people. We’re white, and I think it’s fair to say we’ve always been aware of our privileges. An awareness, however, isn’t really enough. We’re taking some time to educate ourselves further on how to be allies and participate more in local government. At this point, “participating” translates to being present for Zoom meetings of our town council, but we can continue to grow.
We’ve also been playing games. Games are such an important part of our lives, and in difficult times (like a global health crisis, domestic unrest, and growing national uncertainty), it’s important for us to do what we can to be together and feel good. So yeah, that means we’re still playing games.
Unmatched, The Voyages of Marco Polo, Mystery Rummy: Jekyll & Hyde, Mechs vs. Minions, Welcome to DinoWorld, Cockroach Poker, The Oracle of Delphi, and more have hit our table. I’m looking forward to sharing more of our thoughts on these soon.
That being said, it may be a minute before we do. I read recently that Michelle Obama came forward saying she was suffering from low grade depression. It’s fair to say she is not alone. So much of our lives that we took for granted seem nigh impossible to take for granted now, especially when simply going to the grocery store could put yourself or loved ones at risk. People are losing their jobs, their homes, and their lives. Things are bad right now. This is something that will be taught in history classes someday.
I certainly don’t want this simple post to seem too down, but I want to tell you, dear reader, why we’ve gone silent. We’re still here. We’re still shuffling. We’re still sitting down across the table from each other and enjoying the time. But it’s important now that we all take care of ourselves, so we’re trying to do just that.
Stay safe out there. Do what you can to make yourselves happy until things return to something like normal. Play good games with people you love. It’s important.
Eric
Player One
