On this great Sunday to start off the month of July, the Roost woke up to rainy skies and an expectation of a rather laid-back day indoors. Fortunately, the weather cleared for sunlight and team CoW Bee was able to set up P2 for our Jennifer’s experiment by painting, bagging, and crowning flowering Echinacea heads. Thereafter, the Roost squad (and Kristen) reconvened at the Roost and decided it was time to turn away from the prairie ecosystem to relax at the limnetic Lake Agnes in Alexandria. At the lake, we engaged in common leisure activities some may call sport: kanjam, swimming, frisbee, and soccer. This small excursion was a morale boost for the team; we found that our fellow roostmates have skills other than searching for melted toothpicks.
Evan, Zeke, Michael, Brigid, and Andy simultaneously pass the soccer ball and the frisbee.
After sports ‘n stuff at the lake, the team decided to plant our taproots and relax for the afternoon before dinner. Mia cooked dinner tonight with the help of Kristen. It was a lovely combination of sautéed onions and peppers in a noodle matrix, with a fresh salad prepared from veggies we got from the house’s CSA. Once dinner ended, the squadron decided to disperse to get some work done or just relax. Into this wonderful time of relaxation, someone (this individual will remain unnamed) decided we should play a “super fun card game” called Mao (named after the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong). This game makes no logical sense, as it consists of an Uno-like base game in combination with rules generated by players, except nobody knows what the rules are… As one can imagine, this game is not fun, and I quickly left to engage in more productive activities – like writing this flog post and reading a paper for our journal club. As the Roost begins to settle down for the night, I ask myself, “what joy is found in playing an effectively rule-less card game in which people are actively raging?” I personally do not know the answer, but I will perform a thorough investigation at the Hjelm house during lunch tomorrow. Until then, remember to never listen when someone says, “hey let’s play this fun card game but I get to make up all the rules and not tell you.” Happy July!
Evan, Mia, Zeke, Michael, and Brigid play the “game” Mao.
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