Life's a Game
Four wheels good, two wheels bad
The best part of planning a wedding so far has been putting together the mailing list of all our desired guests. I had recently been in contact with my college friends Luke and Gabrielle, a couple who we had not hung out with in some time, and by asking them for a mailing address we had also set ourselves up a game night. They live nearby a grille that makes some outstanding American food, so we made an agreement to walk over there for dinner before our game night began.
We had barely left the complex before Luke stops us all in our tracks.
Look out!
Not 30 feet in front of us, a motorbike had just ejected its driver and turned into a careening projectile, contorting its metal hull with every twist and roll, hurtling to its destination of a nearby tree. The bike was forced to a sudden halt beneath its branches, billowing white smoke into the raw bark it had just exposed. Horrified, mouth agape, we hastened to the scene to see what we could do.
Miraculously, the driver was relatively unharmed compared to the blazing speed of his vehicle. Someone, who I believe to be his partner, was riding behind him and quickly disembarked to help him.
Are you okay?
My bike... the frame... I don't even know what happened!
As he gestured frantically to the mangled mess of his vehicle, we could see the bright red on one of his hands, the protective glove of which seemingly vaporized in the friction of the fall. The back side of his jeans were torn in large gashes, maintaining their form through fibers alone. He continued to rattle about the totaled state of the bike without acknowledging the injuries he had just sustained. It was evident, understandably, that he was in shock.
Luke asked the rider's partner if we could call emergency services for them. She gently shook her head before continuing to console the man. We decided to respect this request and give them space, a decision we could only make seeing the remarkable condition of the driver compared to the crash he just endured. When we returned after dinner, the pair were nowhere to be seen and a tow company was removing the bike.
As devastating and traumatic of an event this must have been for him, I hope the rider of that bike can find peace knowing his injuries could have been so much worse. It's also a stark reminder of how life can instantly change from serenity into chaos. Had we left the house a minute earlier, we would have found ourselves in the wake of destruction; there may have even been fatalities in unluckier circumstances.
All Aboard
I don't really have a good transition from that event to the rest of our night. Dinner continued as originally scheduled; I had a pimento cheese burger, sweet potato fries, and a cinnamon honey dipping sauce that turned my side dish into a dessert. Kathryn enjoyed a Cuban sandwich with regular fries.
The game of the night was dominos, which is Luke and Gabrielle's go-to. The specific variant of the game is called Mexican train, where a central hub is placed along with a train figurine for each player. Each domino has two sides, and each side contains anywhere from zero to fifteen pips. Every player draws fifteen dominos to begin, with the remaining dominos constituting the draw pile called the "boneyard".
The first turn allows each player to construct a starting track using any number of dominos as they please. A track is constructed by placing dominos end-to-end starting at the central hub. Adjacent dominos can only be placed if one side of the domino matches the same quantity of pips as the open side of a placed domino. Any domino that has an equal amount of pips on both sides can be placed sideways as a junction, allowing up to three extra branches to extend from the domino. The game is won once you place all of your dominos.
Each turn after the first allows you to place a single domino. You may only add to your own track, or you can add to a community track that everyone can use. If you cannot place a domino, you may draw one from the boneyard. If the drawn domino may be played, you can do so without consequence. However, if it cannot be played, your track is opened and your train figurine is placed on your first domino. Now, others can play on your track until you close it by playing a domino onto your own track again.
There are a few other mechanics that come into play as well. If you play a double-sided domino as a junction, you may play an additional domino to close it off. If you cannot do so, every player must use a turn to close it off, which will continue until a player draws a compatible domino. Finally, once you are down to your last domino, you must double tap it against the table, almost as a nonverbal "Uno".
We enjoyed multiple rounds of dominos as each round took about fifteen minutes. Kathryn took the first two games, I took the third, Gabrielle got the fourth, and Luke rounded off the fifth game. We also played a few rounds of Wavelength before the free flow of drinks caught up to us all. It was a wonderful night and I hope we get to have more game nights in the future.