Smoke rings rose into a little cloud about Tom’s head as he sat, laptop open, at our dining room table. Four of our five children surrounded him with their character sheets and little piles of multicolored dice in front of them — it was their first time playing D&D.
On the other side of the wall, a swiveling butler door between us, I sautéed onions and used my favorite red spatula to encourage droplets of batter through a colander into a large pot of boiling water (and all over my counter and stove top).
My character, Danaë, a Wilden Shaman, will enter the campaign later.
Tomorrow, our church is having an Oktoberfest-themed fellowship meal, and I was preparing our two contributions:
I brought in a bowl of the Spaetzle casserole mixture and a fork for Tom to try. “Oh, that’s good!” he said. “Hmm… does it need any salt?” he thought aloud. “Nope.. it’s perfect,” he concluded.
A few moments later, I brought in the brazed cabbage. This, too, met his taste-buds’ approval.
“You know, this is how I always imagined life would be,” he said.
“Smoking a pipe, and being your children’s Dungeon Master, while your wife brings in homemade German food for you to taste?” I said, smiling.
“Exactly.”