The Fourth Turning is a Crisis. Old Artists disappear. Prophets enter elder hood. Nomads enter midlife, Heroes enter young adulthood, and a new generation of child Artists is born.

                                                     William Strauss and Neil Howe 1997

Well The crisis is obvious and I can’t bear to linger on its negative effects. If you haven’t come across Stauss and Howe then now is the time my friends. It is action that this age requires, once a period of enforced inaction is over. The Tercio has checked in and all are gainfully employed. 

“Participate in seasonal activities, by taking advantage of the current turning…”

  My thanks to Ann’s Imaterium blog for this superb initiative. Her blog is filled with great advice but this latest idea is especially positive. Who knows what financial position we may be in when the lock-down lifts, how about getting some projects finished?

 Image shamefully stolen from Ann’s blog!

• “Avoid post seasonal behaviour , by terminating habits that were appropriate for the prior turning but are not for the current one. “

Don’t just mope around contemplating your navel or your lead pile. Now is the time to get organised and shed the detritus. Eight bags of rubbish have been removed from my own hobby lair. I’m so happy I can see the floor. James Churchill has been helping with the lambing, even though he owns no sheep. Mr. Fry has now completed two sets of rules for Pendraken and he is now contemplating air defence systems after the students in the house behind him have used lock down to fly a weapon grade drone over Fry Towers.

• “Make pre seasonal preparations, by trying to anticipate the needs and opportunities of the next turning.”

Wargames sensei Keith Mc Glynn lightened the mood in his own inimitable fashion by forecasting the end of local games stores and events up to November! Thank God that Virtus is planned for December 5th and 6th? Mike Lane and Eddie are with me in preparing for a multi-player Battle of Chalons to kick start the return to meeting up regularly. Watch out for details this week.

• “Prepare society: Require community teamwork to solve local problems , but don’t try this on a national scale.”

We need to form a proper Wargames club. Mr. Lowrie is completing his armies of the Caliphates on a one: one scale so there should be no shortage of armies. Damien of Ancient and Modern miniatures has offered massive discounts to club members😓

• Prepare elders: Tell future elders they need to be more self sufficient , but don’t attempt deep cuts in benefits to current elders.John Gallacher has decided on an army and a rule system after thirty years of research. Chris has decided on stimulating the world economy by spending his pension on miniature warriors. Definately both Boomer generation!
• “Prepare the defense: Expect the worst and prepare to mobilise, but don’t pre commit to any one response.

I’ve loved seeing bloggers sharing the view from their window. I was shamed by Pat’s luxury pad on the other side of the world. It is great to see how far the community stretches. I refrained from photographing my neighbours’ houses as Dr. Patel is already suspicious of me peering through the windows at him with my magnifying lenses on. My other neighbour only comes out to bring the bins out and avoids eye contact. These are the people of the last turning, the people who dare not even smile when they pass you on a walk. Community and team work are our weapons. The daffodils are out and the sun shinning, James is chasing the sheep on the hillsides ( as usual 😗) , the Future is ours.