In my previous blog entry I lamented not getting to play my thrice-a-week TTRPGs with my friends this week. It has, expectedly, been a slog of a three days without my games with the boys. Thankfully, we’ll all get the chance to make up for lost game time this weekend.
It’s time for Nerd Summit again!
Nerd Summit is the name for the day when my lifelong friend Dave, who is among those who games remotely with us, makes the drive from New York to Massachusetts to join the rest of us in-person and we spend an entire day playing board games, chomping on snacks, and drinking (as much as our aging bodies will comfortably allow us). And I’m not kidding when I say an entire day. The games begin some time around 11am and don’t end until after midnight.
We take Nerd Summit seriously. It’s planned months in advance and schedules are cleared. Our families know not to bother us unless it’s a dire emergency. We make ourselves unavailable to all other social obligations because it’s Nerd Summit weekend. I’m missing my niece’s birthday party (it’s okay, she’s very young and I’m sending my son in my stead) because it was scheduled after the date for Nerd Summit had already been claimed. We take Nerd Summit very seriously.
And I’m not even that good at board games! It’s a rare event that I actually win any of the games we play, but that’s not the point. I enjoy the time spent with my dear friends, even when I’m complaining that I’m failing to grasp the rules of a game that my friends have mastered on their first try.
The cherry on top is that my birthday falls on the Tuesday following Nerd Summit, so I’m going to consider that Saturday an early birthday party for myself. I don’t make a big deal of my birthdays any more outside of the decade milestones, but when all my closest friends are within arm’s reach on the same day at the same time so close to my birthday, I think I can make an exception.
I cannot wait for Nerd Summit weekend.