Hi all,
Here are a few photos from tonight’s Chariot racing game at the Darien Library. We had 9 kids tonight, and they picked up the Roman Circus III rules right away. Once again, a big shout out to Gordon Andrews for helping out with the track and John Sileo for loaning me some chariots till I finish my own.
This was probably one of the best sessions we have had in Darien so far. The kids are starting to bring more of their friends each month. So our “usual crowd” of 4-5 kids has grown to 9-10 kids. I’m hoping Rudolpho gets back soon, but he is a freshman now and busy with football. Everyone else is still in middle school.
The race was super close, and I got a kick from how bloody it got. Ramming and whipping each other was just a given. Revenge was constant. When Hudson’s chariot flipped, I didn’t have to bother explaining the rules about running over the driver. They literally took turns driving over the poor corpse.
Stray thoughts …..
I’m feeling pretty old. For the second time, literally no one has seen or even heard of the movie Ben Hur. Not even the librarians or parents I met. I gave everyone homework and told them to search for “Ben Hur chariot race” on YouTube.
Cornering was compared to Mario Cart. OK, I can see that.
When the game ended, the kids made up a new game ….. “Chairiot Racing”.
And yes, that’s spelled right. It was literally bumper cars in their wheeled chairs around the table. They heard the screaming upstairs, but the librarians were fine with it. One just summed it up, “It’s a bunch of kids having fun in a library, isn’t that what we want?”
I’ll be back in Darien on December 11th for some Trench Wars. Tomorrow is another chariot race in Greenwich.
Hope all is well with everyone. Thanks again!
John
