Winter Is Coming

Those of you who have read "Game of Thrones", or indeed watched it on TV, will be aware of the expression "Winter Is Coming".   It refers to the end of the pleasant summer life style and the start of the ill fated winter, with the threat of death, destruction and the end of the world as we know it.   Well its not quite as bad as that here in Spain.   But it does indicate big changes in our daily routine.

October is the month when we change from our summer to winter routine.  

Being retired we are in the happy position of being able to do what we want, when we want.   Our two main interests are wargaming and hill walking.   In June, July, August and September it is much too hot to do any hill walking, so we spend more time on wargame related projects.  

Over the past four or five years this has mainly been our PBEM campaign or making scenery.   We finished the PBEM campaign in February.   We completed our last planned model (a coaching inn) last month.  

Fortunately we are now back into our walking season.   Since we retired to Spain in 2006 we have walked each Monday with a small group of likeminded friends.   These are day walks of about 12 km, and have long been a regular part of our weekly routine.  

Last year we started a similar group in our local U3A.   We need a core group of at least six regular walkers, but have struggled to find and keep sufficient numbers.   There are two other walking groups, both do morning walks of about three hours.   One always has lunch afterwards.  Both are very popular, and clearly most of the U3A members would prefer these shorter walks.

Most of our current members live in UK, but have holiday homes here in Spain.  So they visit for a month or so two or three times a year.   So we are trying to recruit more regular members who are available all year around.   The past week we have been busy preparing a display for our U3A Open Day on Thursday.   It was very popular and we had thirteen members asking for more details.   So we are hopeful that we can add to our core numbers.

What has all of this to do with wargaming you may well ask.

Simply that wargaming has taken second place in our activities.   The solo campaign has produced two battles to wargame.  So there is no map movement to keep me busy.   We have been distracted by preparations for the walking season, and time spent at the wargames table has suffered.

I often find that the less you do the less you want to do.    Since the end of our PBEM campaign the pressure to wargame two or three battles at a time has disappeared.   To be honest it was becoming too much of a chore.   But the abrupt end of pressure has resulted in a loss of interest in wargaming in general.   The end of our model making projects has added to this feeling.

Fortunately we have much less time to spend on wargaming in autumn, winter and spring.   But I do feel that I will need to find a new project to inject some enthusiasm into our wargame routine.