nunoncastors

Have you ever done something on a whim, just because, well, why not? I have. I do it all the time, though few people know it. I’m the chap you see in the middle of nowhere, paddling in a stream, taking pictures of his feet. Those people you sometimes see in the most unexpected of places; the man reading a book halfway up a mountain or sitting on a distant beach? That’s me; I’m one of those people.

You see, I like the sensation that I’m doing something that other people don’t, that the things I see and experience are in some way special and just for me. It’s a strange and selfish urge, but then if I hadn’t been at the City of Troy three days before Christmas, who would have seen the sun come up? No one, no one at all.

This sort of behaviour quite rightly leads to gentle mocking from my friends and jokes at my expense, which is fair enough I suppose. However, sometimes the wrong end of the stick is grasped and conclusions are drawn before mitigation can begin. It was a situation such as this that lead to the unfortunate decision, by my good friend Duncan, that I will be going camping with Wizards this summer.

I won’t be. Wizards aren’t real, something I’ve always found bitterly disappointing, and are therefore unable to indulge in barbeque food, a few beers and campfire songs. This doesn’t matter however, because Duncan knows that I like Sci-Fi and therefore, by extension, fantasy. Now, for some reason Duncan hates Sci-Fi and Fantasy with a vengeance, and he downright loathes any crossover between the two genres so my willingness to while away an hour or two watching Stargate SG-1 or reading Harry Potter upsets him.

Apparently he was somewhat alarmed when he found out that I went camping in Skipton last summer with the lovely guys and gals from Tar Valon.net, because, well, why not? Therefore, when I mentioned that I was making my way to the Netherlands for a long weekend this summer, he enquired as to what I would be doing with more than a hint of suspicion. Before I could answer though, the decision was made; I was going camping with wizards again.

Which suits me just fine, really. I’ll get my hat.