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We all belong to multiple tribes to various degrees. Some of them are obvious, others more subtle, but we are tribal in nature whether we acknowledge it or not. Some tribes we belong to without choice. Our family springs to mind; you are joined together in a tribe, like it or not. I am a member of the tribe of folks that have experienced “cardiac events” and of the subset of those that have had the dubious pleasure of the heart bypass procedure. I certainly would not have chosen to belong but there’s no denying that I’m a member and that I feel a certain kinship with others in the same club. And, of course, there are the tribes that you choose to be a part of. My camping buddies, The Corbin Club, are a tribe of four. Tribes consisting of common interests are, in fact, probably the most common. Fans of bands, celebrities, movies, political movements, fetishes, cities, states, hobbies, teams, sports, whatever: all tribes.

So, you may well ask, what’s my point? Well, next weekend we are traveling to our hometown and spending four nights in a hotel full of members of one of our tribes. I can confidently state that we have never met any of these people before. We’re really looking forward to it. We’re attending the North American Discworld Convention.

I’m not sure I can describe what this is all about. I’m positive that however I do describe it won’t begin to do it justice. Discworld is a literary creation by Sir Terry Pratchett. One part fantasy, 2 parts comedy and completely full of political and social commentary, this series of books (39+ titles and more than 70 million copies sold) is one of those things you either love or don’t get. Put us in the former camp. We love his books and we can’t wait to snap up new ones as they come out.

Unfortunately, the chance to snap up new ones will be coming to an end sooner rather than later. Sir Terry has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers disease and has already made plans for his self administered departure when the time is appropriate. When we heard that Sir Terry was to be in Baltimore over the 4th of July weekend we decided that the opportunity was too good to pass up, so we’re off to a Convention. Expect to see some posts next weekend of some, well, interesting sights. And while we’re not into Cosplay (that’s NOT one of our tribes), I have no aversion to photographing those that are (as permitted). Should be interesting.

Now, since this is primarily a photography blog, here are some shots of some of our tribes.

The Corbin Club
Fort Valley, VA, 1/13/13

A temporary tribe:
SE&I Source Board
Washington, DC, 4/27/05

Little Feat
we definitely belong to this tribe
Outside Washington, DC, 7/24/05

The Sailing Tribe
Somewhere off Tortolla, BVI, 5/3/04

The Kennedy Space Center Tribe
Atlantis Final Roll
KSC, FL. 11/2/12

Family & Friends
All followers of the Minor Catastrophes blog
Bozeman, MT, 12/12/11

My most important tribe: A Tribe Of Two
Cane Garden Bay, BVI, 5/1/04