Over my lifetime I have tried a lot of different things from various sports to games, to hobbies, to activities and for the most part I have enjoyed most of them. To the point, that it occured to me that many of these things (except for maybe a couple) I rarely do anymore or even at all. When this thought came to me, the second thought was, it this normal? I think it probably is. I guess if you grow up with enough time and resources, (and I am grateful that is the case for me) you will probably try a lot of things at least once.

Sports Growing up, I hadn’t played many team sports, mostly because I wasn’t skilled enough to make the team or it wasn’t really an interest to me but soccer was something I could do and enjoyed. Starting in middle school I played on some Parks and Rec teams and then continued playing for my high school. Playing ended after graduating and moving on to college. Later, many many years later, I began playing again in an adult recreational league. I still play in this league today and this year will be 16 years. I also occasionally play in a Parks and Rec softball league but that has been sporadic. I am a long distance runner but this has been a new activity for me and I was never on any school or organized cross country teams. I will also play golf, both club and disk versions, was a member of a few bowling leagues, will play pickup baseball, basketball, or even touch football. Sometime, I would even like to try hockey and also ultimate frisbee.

Hobbies While sporting activities are things that keep me physically fit, there are also a great may things that will exercise my brain. Being a card carrying Registered Geek® I love playing games and will pretty much sit down and play at least once, anything that you put in front of me. It could be board games, card games, role-playing, strategy, video, I have favorites in all the categories. I can remember my parents teaching me games like Yatzee, Sorry, checkers and chess. I still enjoy the classics like Clue, Risk, Uno, and of course Monopoly. I have owned in my lifetime an Atari, Super Nintendo, Playstation 1, Original XBox, XBox One, and a Nintendo Switch and while I don’t consider myself an avid video gamer, I do really enjoy sitting down and being a hero for a while, even more so if the game has a great story. I have played many role-playing games, some you may have never heard of like Traveler or Gamma World and of course the big one, Dungeons & Dragons. I have such fond memories of playing D&D with my friends going all the way back to the orignal red box set that I got for my Birthday. I remember reassuring my Mom that the game was not devil worshipping and to think of it more like King Arthur, Lancelot and their adventures vanquishing monsters. I don’t have the time like those days but still manage to play with friends and family on the regular.

We should all take the time to play more games… speaking of which… I think it’s time for a little Baldur’s Gate.