I got out and took some pictures. The city of Sedona had a fly-in and community get-together with old planes and cars, pretty much my kryptonite. So we packed into my father-in-law's Tahoe and headed up to Sedona. After spending some time at the fly-in we headed up to Tlaquepaque to see the greenery and do a little shopping on top of a mountain. On the way down we stopped at a nice little eatery and helped them get rid of a little beer All in all, a good weekend.

Well I found the coolest reserve to take my camera and try to capture some wildlife images, hopefully without having to contend with any rattlesnakes. Now I just need some time. Time is the one thing that seems to be in short supply whenever I have something to do with it. I need to study for my MCDST exams, then there's the course in Chinese I want to do, plus one in Gaelic, and I've about 1500 metal miniatures that want painting. *Sigh*, it's a good thing I plan on living forever- it's going to take that long to get everything done.

My wife called me at work today and told me. Man, I feel like a jigsaw puzzle with a piece missing. I joined the game in 1981 and it has been such a big part of my life, even my sanity while deployed. Anyway, below is my little testament to the power of the game Gary created.

When I was a kid I had what psychologists call “vivid dreams”, which are basically nightmares that are so real it’s like being in a Freddy movie. They were horrible and I dreaded sleep. About the age of 13 I began playing D&D, and my first successful adventurer was a ranger. Every night as I went to sleep I imagined my character fending off monsters and put him into the kind of situations I dreamt about. Eventually whenever I had a nightmare, I would become this character and set things right. After a few months the nightmares ended, never to return.

Years later I discovered that a similar therapy was being used by psychologists to treat people with chronic nightmares. Little did I know I had invented a treatment for other people’s bad dreams, but it was D&D that gave me the tools to do it. As such I owe Gary quite a lot. I never mentioned this to him on Dragonsfoot because I didn’t want to seem like a fanboy or a kook. But now that he’s gone, I feel that telling this story is the best tribute I can offer to his memory.

Heading back out West, to the part of the country I actually liked living in. Better jobs, different breed of people, and a shot at starting fresh. I'm hoping all my books fit in the moving truck. Anybody else ever have that problem? I hope to get my camera back out and actually do some work with it, after I find a regular job.

It seems odd to me to celebrate the survival of a people who would go on to slaughter the indigenous inhabitants of the New World after having worn out their welcome in the old one, but who am I to argue with free turkey and dressing? Holidays, meh. I'll be thankful for what I have, but leave the pilgrims and parades out of it.