Snow falling on pear blossoms, pic March 14, 2020 from my home office.
This morning I’ve been weighting and boxing up The RallyBird Baseball board game for shipment. Times are almost normal, but like the rowers in Hokusai’s “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” we’re braced for impact. This painting is a kind of talisman of my mother. Since childhood, I’ve always wondered if the rowers made it through the crash of water with their sleek craft still afloat. Those craft look so sleek and nimble, the sailors so steadfast, I’ve tended to think that they will.
The threat of the virus is impacting my family, as yours, in more than one way. So far, it’s all indirect, but still serious. One elderly relative has postponed her cancer surgery. Another is has had to postpone the difficult and volatile transition from living normally at his house to the acceptance of the facts of old age and moving to an elder care home. I need to fly to assist them–does flying to them mean I would be likely to bring the virus to their home? What can I do? At least three relatives have had their work suspended for weeks. Younger relatives are out of school. How will they make up the needed learning? You have experiences like this, I’m sure.
It’s serious, a historic scale event that will bring changes afterward that we can’t anticipate. Now team sports are suspended… What does that mean? Baseball fever was high a few weeks ago, and with it, sales of my board game rose. Now we have that damned other kind of fever, and no baseball at all. How strange, and how awful. It’s not important, but I continue to try to sell my game.
For board gaming, gatherings in public places are temporarily in decline. I wonder if, during our home quarentines, as we wait for the curve to roll forward and wash past us, board games will find more time on tables in people’s homes. They certainly could, if the need for social distancing, school closings, and work changes means couples and families are together under one roof in ways that seem like a strange, ominous holiday. We wait for it to be over. And while we wait, what should we do?
As in many market niches, for years now, there’s been economic pressure to move board gaming manufacturer to Ch1na. Will that continue? RallyBird is made in the USA, but as I look for ways to bring cost savings to you, I’ve seen how overseas manufacture makes a difference. Will we reassess the feasibility of a far away supply chain? Well, once things return to normal, why would we? Change is difficult. The one constant is that things change, but we can’t anticipate all the consequences. As I get older I remind myself to cherish the many good things in normal life and not take them for granted. I wonder if the eventual relief we share from the threats and harm of this pandemic will help us feel a re-enchantment will all that we have which is already so wonderful.
My work continues. I received word that one of my trademark applications passed a legal hurdle, and moves forward. I’m continuing as before, shipping my game to amazon in the hopes that it makes it easier for you to pick up at lower costs and possibly free shipping. Thanks for reading.
The RallyBird Baseball Board Game is available on amazon.com here.
Here’s a link to the most recent rules PDF.
The RallyByrd Baseball Board Game 