Three Beautiful Things 05-27-2025: Surprise! Blood Work!, Brief Money Chat, I Couldn't Read On Tonight

 1. First thing this morning I was off to Kootenai Lab Services for the next of my weekly blood draws. Two more weeks to go. Everything went smoothly and the results that have appeared so far are consistent with what the numbers were last week. That's a relief. I hope this pattern continues as more results pop up this week -- certain tests have to go to other labs outside of Kootenai's to be measured. 

2. Back home, I called our financial advisor in Bellevue and in short order we took care of the business we are dealing with right now and, if all goes well, we should be finished with the task at hand. 

3. East of Eden is a sprawling novel that John Steinbeck divided into four parts. I reached the end of Part III last night and it was devastating -- so much so, that I closed the book, let what I'd just read settle down inside of me, and gave myself a break from the Hamilton and the Trask families until tomorrow. 

I admire a writer, like John Steinbeck, who can structure a story in such a way that when a specific unnerving episode concludes, I'm left nearly paralyzed, able to do little more than stare into the deep of the night and with a combination of grief and bewilderment wonder why life seems to have to take such painful turns. 

Three Beautiful Things 05-26-2025: Ah! Sprawling Fiction!, Sprawling Questions, Not Really a Sprawling Dinner!

1. Yes. I appreciate the appeal of a novel that can be read quickly, that is confined to a specific and narrow time period, whose plot moves in chronological order, that involves basically a single generation of characters, told from a single narrative point of view, limited to a particular place or setting. 

It's these features that make many (not all) crime novels exciting. Their focus, their tightness contribute to their momentum and they are often real page turners. 

I also really enjoy, and maybe even prefer, sprawling novels, novels that cover multiple generations of characters over the course of many years, even decades, sometimes centuries, novels that take place in multiple places, and that might even jump around -- a quality many readers who comment on Goodreads and Amazon and elsewhere find frustrating and confusing. 

East of Eden is a sprawling novel. It's multi-generational. It crosses the USA, explores various locations in Northern California, will seem to have erased certain characters from its story, and then almost out of thin air, the seemingly forgotten character pops up again, and increases the story's tension.

Novels can also be philosophical, take on eternal questions of human existence, explore questions of good and evil, justice, human freedom, exploring to what degree freedom even exists, the nature of God, human forgiveness, love, happiness, and a slew of other timeless questions that are essential elements of being human. 

2. The key word in my favorite novels (and plays, movies, poems, essays, and other kinds of writing and art) is "questions". The best works, to me, are not declarative, but interrogative. 

I've been wrestling with questions implicit in Steinbeck's  book as well as in the book I read about the Columbine shootings, the Long Island serial killer, the murders in North Dakota's oil fields, and other books, fiction and non-fiction, which feature individuals who have little or no conscience. 

Are they free? Is an individual with no (or little) sense of good or evil able to do what many consider the foundation of freedom? Are they deliberating? Are they making choices? And if they aren't making choices but acting from a hard-wired inner desire or a pathological compulsion to have power over others, to take control of others, to mete out retribution to those who confront them, who try to curb their power, what does it mean to hold such shameless persons accountable for their actions? 

I haven't finished East of Eden, but I think two of its many characters are irredeemable, unable to stop themselves from injuring others, destroying those around them, and are unmoved by efforts to hold them accountable. On occasion, each of these characters experiences inklings of humane feeling, but either they push these feelings out of existence or come to realize these softer feelings are impotent. 

In a sprawling novel like East of Eden, Steinbeck can give us long, nearly unbearable examinations of such characters and he has the space within the freedom afforded by writing fiction to explore these characters in depth and to confront his readers with jarring realities so many of us wish weren't possible. 

3.  I don't really know that I'd say I took a break from this sprawling novel to prepare a sprawling dinner, but I sure enjoyed my return to the kitchen and getting the wok back in action again. 

I fixed a green curry sauce and put a couple packets of Thai wheat noodles in the sauce, an approach I'd never tried before.

In the wok, I stir fried onion, red pepper, broccoli, and cauliflower, pushed them up the wok's sides, and stir fried chunks of tri trip beef. .

I combined the sauce, vegetables, and beef together in well of the wok and Debbie and I liked how the curry helped clear our sinuses but did not move us to call the fire department and both of us experimented with augmenting the flavor of the curry with touches of different sauces I'd bought over the last few months at Trader Joe's. 

Three Beautiful Things 05-25-2025: Trip to the Emergency Vet for Gibbs, Family Dinner Prep, Lively Conversation

 1. I don't know what Gibbs swallowed, but he came in the house honking and upset that that he kept making sounds as if he were trying to clear his throat or throw up. He was breathing fine. His appetite was unaffected. But, something wasn't right. 

No vets are available in the Silver Valley on Sunday, so I drove Debbie and Gibbs, first to the emergency vet in CdA where the wait would be two hours and then to the emergency vet in Post Falls where Gibbs got right in to see the vet.

X-rays showed no obstruction in Gibbs' esophagus or windpipe. 

The vet said that he had gotten rid of whatever he'd swallowed, but that his windpipe/esophagus was irritated and that's why the spasms continued periodically, why he made sounds like he was going to vomit. 

She prescribed meds for this inflammation/irritation and we returned to Kellogg. 

Gibbs is more relaxed. 

He continues to make the sounds that alarmed us much less frequently. 

I'm pretty sure Debbie will make a follow up visit to our vet in Kellogg later in the week. 

2. We were back home from our trip to Post Falls very early in the afternoon and had plenty of time to get ready to host family dinner. 

Debbie wanted to prepare today's meal and she cooked Mississippi Kielbasa in the crock pot and fixed fried corn and mashed potatoes to go along with it. She bought some frozen fig and orange stuffed phyllo snacks that I air fried as an appetizer. 

Christy brought a refreshing cucumber, lime, and pineapple salad and Paul and Carol provided fizzy water and wine for beverages.   

This was a very tasty and satisfying meal and, for dessert, Debbie and I served  frozen coconut bars. 

3. Our conversation ranged all over the place. Gardening. Debbie's job. Books, especially American fiction -- how John Steinbeck, Arthur Miller, Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Toni Morrison, and many other American writers tell stories that provide American readers a way to self-examine the contrast between assumed American values and the realities of American life. 

I'm getting a big dose of this kind of exploration as I read more deeply into Steinbeck's East of Eden and am experiencing deeper appreciation than ever for this kind of self-examination and inquiry. 

Three Beautiful Things 05-24-2025: Myfortic is Back, Revival, Debbie's Superb Dinner

 1. The reintroduction of Myfortic to my system gave it a temporary jolt, but I played it smart: I rested, let the light headedness pass, took a late morning nap, monitored my blood pressure -- which came back up to normal in short order and stayed there -- and by early afternoon I was fine. 

2. I don't want to give away plot details, but East of Eden takes a turn in Part 3 when Adam Trask finally faces a truth he had ignored or been unable to see for many years. At least for the time being, he's revived -- I have to wonder how long this revival will last. 

3. Debbie told me she wanted to cook dinner tonight. She made a delicious rub of paprika, thyme, onion powder, salt, and pepper for boneless pork chops, baked them, made (or heated up) white rice, and made a superb bean salad. 

I know I say it every time this happens, but as much as I love to cook, it's always a great pleasure when Debbie says she's in the mood to prepare a meal -- and, as a bonus this weekend, she also wants to cook dinner Sunday night when we have Christy, Carol, and Paul over for family dinner. 

Three Beautiful Things 05-23-2025: Return to Myfortic, Year #2 Is Shaping Up, A Wok Dinner

This is blog post #6800 at kellogg bloggin'.

1. Nurse Jenn messaged me today. Overall, my blood work from Tuesday looks great. The transplant team decided to make one adjustment: I am going back on the anti-rejection/immuno-suppression medicine Myfortic. The dosage is half what is was about a year ago and it will help keep my white blood cells from getting too frisky and trying to impose its powers on the unfamiliar kidney at work in my system. As always, medicines that suppress the immune system also increase, however moderately, the possibility of infection, so I'll monitor all signs by taking my temperature daily and being aware of how I'm feeling day to day. 

I will also have labs drawn once a week for the next three weeks. 

2. So, my second year of post-transplant medical care is falling into place. I'm all scheduled on June 4th to have a bone density scan, ultrasound on my native kidneys, chest X-ray, and before the imaging pros work their magic,  I'll have blood drawn. 

I see Dr. Bieber on June 12th. 

I think I'm keeping it all straight....

3. I had a blast in the kitchen late this afternoon. I had purchased one of my favorite items at Trader Joe's, a package of Balsamic Rosemary Beef Steak Tips. Today, I got out the wok and stir fried, until about half cooked, sliced mushrooms, zucchini, and yellow pepper. Then I added in the steak tips and while they cooked, I eventually removed the vegetables so they didn't over cook. I had made a pot of white rice and when the steak tips were close to being cooked through, I returned the vegetables to the wok, added a bunch of chopped cilantro and cooked rice, and sprinkled chopped green onions over the top. 

It worked. 

Three Beautiful Things 05-22-2025: Walking, Walking with *Deadish*, J. J. Cale and Dire Straits

1. I walked up the trail to the high school as far as the steps going down to the medical center parking lot and strolled down to the 4-way stop at Cameron and Bunker and then on home. 

My reward was a deep and satisfying night's sleep.

2. While I walked, I started listening to the May 15th  Deadish radio show and enjoyed how Jeff dealt with a wide variety of Deadish music, including the Grateful Dead, that had been performed and recorded on May 15th over the years. Jimi Hendrix. One of my favorite bands, Legion of Mary. Zero, another favorite. And more. It was a great program that not only made my walk more pleasant, but gave me great pleasure as I kept it playing in my ear buds after I arrived home and rested my legs. 

3. While I'm on the subject of music, this morning when I woke up, I was happy that I'd let Spotify play all night long. It all began on Wednesday evening when I played J. J. Cale's anthology album and when it was over, Spotify continued to play blues and other hybrid genres of music in the general spirit of J. J. Cale. Eric Clapton popped up, including cuts from the thrilling album he and J. J. Cale collaborated on, The Road to Escondido.  So did a variety of other artists and some J. J. Cale repeats. 

My favorite cuts, though, were about three or four from Dire Straits' first album, titled simply Dire Straits.  

I knew from reading I've done that Mark Knopfler regarded J. J. Cale as having had a vital influence on his songwriting and his playing. 

Now, Spotify did not play the mighty "Sultans of Swing" from this album, but played three or four other tracks that, even though I don't remember the song titles, helped me hear more clearly than I ever had before the J. J. Cale influence on Mark Knopfler and on the band. 

My already immeasurable respect and enjoyment of Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler grew -- and I didn't know until this morning that it could get any higher! 

Three Beautiful Things 05-21-2025: Sobering Reading, Ed Called Me, Chicken Dinner and Television Memories

1. I'm over half way through John Steinbeck's East of Eden and it's clear to me that much like other 19th and 20th century US fiction writers, Steinbeck is calling freedom, that most cherished and believed in American value into question, examining what might be determined in us through the traits we inherit from the family members who precede us and by social and economic factors that are external to us. 

Steinbeck also explores how the consequences of past actions live on, take on a life of their own, and questions to what degree we are free to do anything about them. 

Reading East of Eden is sobering. 

I don't know how the stories of the different characters he's created are going to end, but I can say that in page after page I feel the power of inevitability, that several, if not all, of these characters are trapped in or sentenced to a future they don't have much control over. 

I've been down this road many times whether in works by Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Herman Melville, Thomas Hardy, Toni Morrison, or Edith Wharton, to name a few, and it's always unsettling. 

But, these writers unsettle me so poetically in their use of language that as emotionally difficult as their stories can be, the esthetic experience of reading them is fulfilling -- and the experience is doubly fulfilling because their writing  has the integrity that comes with courageously seeking truth, however bitter and painful their explorations can be, and however incomplete. 

2. Ed called me this afternoon and it was heartening that both of us could report to the other that we are both doing pretty well -- Ed's cancer treatment has been and continues to be successful and my post-transplant blood work has been solid, as I've written about 1,000,000,000 times on this blog. 

Yes, I've been a broken record about my test results and progress, but tiresome repetition doesn't diminish my happiness and, likewise, I cannot hear Ed tell me enough times that his treatments have been successful, he continues with the medication he's not finished with, and, all in all, he's getting along great and, like me, I'll say, is maintaining a positive and grateful frame of mind.

3. First thing this morning, I discovered that Debbie had taken a package of chicken thighs out of the freezer for me to prepare for our dinner. 

Awesome. 

I enjoy experimenting with the seasoning blends I like to buy at Trader Joe's and today I decided to season the chicken with Ajika, a Georgian seasoning that is spicy and garlicky and I added some garlic powder to the chickens for good measure along with salt and pepper. 

I sliced three yellow potatoes and seasoned them with Montreal steak seasoning and put a ring of white onion on top of each chicken thigh. 

I filled a baking pan with the chicken, potatoes, and onion.

While they baked, I steamed a couple handfuls of Trader Joe's frozen green beans, seasoned with Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute. It always works! 

Everything turned out beautifully and Debbie and I relaxed with our delicious and simple dinner and had a fun conversation about actors and cable television multi-season programs we've watched over the last 15-20 years. 

Great memories. 

Three Beautiful Things 05-20-2025: Success at the Kootenai Lab, My Pleasure Tour, Salads for Family Dinner

1. No kidding. 

When I strolled into the Kootenai Lab Services suite this morning, inside myself I was still laughing at myself for getting things so fouled up yesterday. 

On the outside, though, I approached the counter like a pro as if nothing had happened yesterday and told the woman at the counter I was there for blood work ordered by Natasha Barauskas.

It was a long list of tests and that list tested the inexperience of the employee who was helping me. 

She had to enter these orders for the phlebotomist and invited me to take a seat while she did so.

As I said, she was inexperienced and some of the order confused her and, from my seat in the waiting room, I could see other more seasoned employees coming over to help her. I'd say about six patients who arrived after I did had blood drawn ahead of me -- no problem -- and then I heard the inexperienced employee say the magic words:

"Wow! That was a learning experience!"

I loved it. 

Yes, I had to wait for longer than usual, but it heartened me to know that this kind employee not only solicited help understanding the order, but will, no doubt, understand things better the next time a transplant recipient needs her help that she didn't understand before I sauntered in today.

Oh, by the way, the results of my tests started to roll in a couple of hours later and, so far, the results look solid, stable, encouraging. 

2. I had a very pleasant session with the woman who drew my blood and then I went out into the world and successfully sought pleasure. 

I had a 20 oz triple latte at the coffee stand just outside the lab and read more of East of Eden.

I drove to Elmer's and enjoyed a garden vegetable omelette with hash browns and a flaky biscuit. 

I gassed up at Costco.

I stopped in at Trader Joe's and bought fruit for my contribution to family dinner tonight and a few other items that I was sure Debbie would enjoy. 

Then I had an easy drive back to Kellogg listening to indie pop rock from the late 1980s and 1990s., beginning with what's becoming, after listening to it for nearly twenty years, one of my favorite albums, Luna's Bewitched.

3. Christy and Carol attended a PEO state convention over the weekend, leading us to have family dinner on Tuesday. Carol organized a dinner of salads. I used the fruit I bought at Trader Joe's to make a fruit salad and served it with a Greek yogurt and fresh lemon juice dressing. Christy made a superb pasta salad using ingredients already in her pantry at home and think I ate three, maybe four helpings of it -- it was that good! I also had multiple helpings of Carol's fresh and artful Cobb salad -- it, too, was that good! 

We discussed a lot of things tonight with some special attention on local businesses and our efforts to support them and we talked about coffee, how we brew it, the beans we purchase, and the challenges (for me at least) of grinding our own beans. 

Three Beautiful Things 05-19-2025: I Misunderstood, Fun at Trader Joe's, "Draggin' the Line" Radio

1. Honestly, I just had to shake my head, laugh, and say to myself, "of course I did". 

I left the transplant clinic on May 12th with instructions to have labs done once a week for the next four weeks. 

I thought I would be repeating the extra labs I had done after my May 12th appointment ended.

I thought this meant no fasting, no urine specimen, no tacrolimus trough, and no early morning blood draw. 

To quote Richard Thompson: I misunderstood. 

Of course I did -- 🤣🤣🤣.

First I talked with the superb counter employee at the Kootenai lab and we both realized something wasn't right.

(That something was ME!)

So I called the transplant center, talked to Nurse Jenn, which was fabulous, and I learned what I'd misunderstood. 

These weekly labs over the next four weeks are the full meal deal -- and they have to be drawn in the morning because they have to come about 12 hours after my evening dose of tacrolimus and before my morning dose. 

Now I understood. 

I went back to the counter. 

My closing words with the superb employee: "Thanks for all your help. See you tomorrow morning!"

2. It had been a while since I'd gone on a buy what looks fun spree at Trader Joe's and I also wanted to buy purchase a few items, like coconut milk, that I like to have around. 

So I strolled the aisles and grabbed some cheese products and multigrain crackers here, Everything but the Bagel seasoned cashews and almonds and frozen chicken tenders there, along with some other treats and by the time I reached the check out stand, I could hardly remember that I'd been so confused about my labs and, as I left the store, I was beaming and walking on air. 

All I needed now, and I purchased it, was a 20 oz triple latte at Lean Bean Coffee, making my drive back to Kellogg epicurean. 

3. I had reached a place Sunday evening in East of Eden involving child birth that I could tell was going to be dark and unsettling and I decided I just couldn't face it tonight.

I did, however, turn my attention to Jula, a Canadian woman whose father died and left her thousands of record albums. On Instagram (@soundwavesofwax), Jula posts short videos of herself pulling an album randomly off her late father's shelves and she plays a sample of a cut and comments on what she experienced listening to it. 

In a video I watched last night, she played a sample of a fantastic track off of Tommy James' 1971 album Christian o the World. 

She played "Draggin' the Line". 

Oh my! 

I was suddenly joy struck, supremely happy I'd taken a temporary break from John Steinbeck.

So I went to Spotify andplayed the entire track of "Draggin' the Line". Awesome song! 

Then I noticed that a playlist of songs under the title Draggin' the Line Radio was available on Spotify.

What, I wondered, was on this list?

Some of my favorite pop music from junior high and high school, that's what. 

I listened to more Tommy James and the Shondells.

Then the Buckinghams.

Then the Grass Roots. 

The Turtles.

Sugarloaf.

The Ozark Mountain Blue Devils. 

The entire playlist comprises vault of immature and uncontrolled teen age feelings and fantasies for me. 

Susan, looks like I'm losing.

I'm losing my mind

I'm wasting my time.

And this one:

If you don't love me

Why don't you tell me

Instead if runnin' around

With all the other guys in town

And for me, there were The Turtles long before there was Bob Dylan and when I hear this song, it ain't you Bob that I hear, oh no, no, no,  it ain't you, Bob -- it's the Turtles!

Go away from my window

Leave at your own chosen speed

I'm not the one you want, babe

I'm not the one you need

No, no, no, it ain't me, babe

It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe

Three Beautiful Things 05-18-2025: After the Fall, The Contradictory Experience of Reading Steinbeck, Debbie the Chef

1. To me, the phrase "east of Eden" is another way of saying "after the fall", referring to life outside the Garden of Eden. In his novel, East of Eden, John Steinbeck tells the story of two families who are, in some ways, trying to recapture the beauty and perfection of the Garden of Eden, but they live in a world of good and evil and this conflict is constant. 

I find this novel painful. 

I dread when I can see the evil in the novel at work and it's painful to witness the idealistic characters who are oblivious to the evil in their midst and, I'm thinking, must inevitably suffer tragedy. 

2. I don't remember exactly how it worked, but I am pretty sure it was at Whitworth where, as the semester was drawing to an end, we had what was called Reading Day -- or maybe even Reading Days -- to have time before final exams to read and prepare. 

Well, whether I am remembering that correctly or not, today was a reading day for me and thankfully it was not connected to any final exams. 

It's definitely a contradiction that I can find a day of reading so relaxing and enjoyable even as I'm reading this long novel with its dark under and over tones and its sense of doom vibrating through it. 

I don't know how East of Eden turns out and I have a long way to go to finish it.

But, as of now, as I read the early stages of the book's Part 2, I'm feeling the story's sense of inevitable tragedy.

And, yet, I'm enjoying the book -- I don't enjoy the darkness, but I enjoy the act of reading itself and I enjoy savoring Steinbeck's language, imaginative powers, ability to draw characters, and his storytelling gifts. 

3. My reading day progressed largely uninterrupted because Debbie got creative in the kitchen and made a superb pasta sauce combining ground beef, a Trader Joe's can of eggplant, tomato, and onion, some chopped onion, and a small can of spicy V8 juice and we ate it over some twisty pasta. 

I hope we remember how she did this. This sauce turned out to be one of my all-time favorites.