Watertown, NY, USA . "Public Square" (vintage, date unknown) but the monument is honoring veterans of the American Civil War so the date of the image is late 1800s

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

(4:53 PM UTC -5)
(Now playing on YouTube: "Hellfighters")
(Current Temperature.......+23*F...+7*F...wind chill)
  I'm just back from my first walk in more than a week, and got a very practical demonstration of wind chill..the way out to my destinations  the walk was dead into the prevailing wind, on the way back the wind was at my back..and it felt much warmer.....but here warm in the winter is a relative term.....This is my 71st winter.the first 19 in the Buffalo,NY area ( I must admit to having no memory of the first 2 or 3) and the last 52 in what the locals call the "NorthCountry" ...now through many years of experience I know how to dress for the cold.....and except for my face..nothing got cold......but I do need a little woolen cap for my nose....
  The walk was predicated by 2 motives....the 2nd was I was running low on bread, and some fresh food.....as anyone who lives up here we are "niche preppers"....we prepare for winter..both the snow and the cold.....so I always have two to three weeks of can goods on hand.......in Autumn I check for sales of canned goods......and add them to my winter stockpile........
  The prime reason for the walk is I was getting a case of cabin fever.....I hadn't been out of my rooms and/or the hotel I live in.....for over a week.....and I was getting a little antsy....okay.....maybe more than a little....
  Although it's been several years, and with my physical condition, I'm no longer able to play the sports that used to be a huge part of my life.....before my knees went "south" and didn't take me with them.....I was a pretty good soccer player, and distance runner......some track.....softball.....volleyball....and basically every sport with a ball....including golf....Plus I had a job that was physically demanding as well as a mental challenge.....so being forced by age and my physical limitations to a sedimentary life....walking is the one physical thing I can still do......so when I can't......it gets me down....
 Although I haven't in years I played a lot of table top wargames and RPGs.......I particularly was fond of miniatures.......recreations of battles from military history....by pushing little lead soldiers....around a large table, according to period rules.....ACW (oops American Civil War) and Battles of the Napoleonic period in Europe were two of my favs......also a future game called "Battletech"....it's now a video game.....but it was a board game first, and then a miniature game.....which is the one we played.......and yes there was some chess from time to time
  I also Gmed tabletop RPGs.......mostly "Gamma World", "Top Secret", "Boothill" and "Gangbusters".....only played D&D a couple of times..and never DMed it.....actually I rarely played RPGs.....but I really enjoyed creating scenarios......and then running a group of players through them.....
  Before this becomes a novela.....I'll quit...but first yes I did mess with the layout again.....just moved the column from the left to the right......      

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