Three Beautiful Things 04-19-2026: Breakfast at Sam's with T. Turner and Alex, Pork Loin Family Dinner, Carol and Paul Create and Unforgettable Day

 1. Terry Turner and his friend Alex had been in Missoula and on some nearby waterways for Trout Unlimited meetings and some fishing. They left Missoula this morning and the three of us met at Sam's here in Kellogg for breakfast. It was fun talking about stuff like fish habitat protection, college basketball and football, and other major topics. 

2. Christy hosted tonight's family dinner and built our menu around a marinated pork loin she roasted accompanied by homemade applesauce. Christy also fixed garlic roasted potatoes and Carol contributed fried corn and Debbie made a delicious endive salad. We started our dinner with a delicious bread with olives baked in it and flourless crackers, both enhanced by pesto or a garlic spread. For dessert, Christy baked a no sugar applesauce cake with bourbon raisins. 

3. When Debbie and I arrived at Christy's, I started right in asking Carol and Paul questions about their trip to Spokane on Saturday with three of the students they work with. 

I listened to what Carol and Paul had to say and thought again and again how fortunate these three students were on Saturday. 

I have to believe they'll never forget this day and as they grow older will realize what generous and imaginative teachers Carol and Paul are. 

Carol and Paul took them to the Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane primarily to see an exhibition entitled, "Brick by Brick: We Built This City". Here's the deal: local My Own Creation builders brought seven Spokane landmarks to life by creating detailed scale replicas of them using LEGO bricks. On display are replicas of the Spokesman-Review tower, Davenport Hotel, the Great Northern Clock and Radio Flyer Wagon from Riverfront Park, Spokane Falls along with the Monroe Street Bridge and the Washington Water Works Building, the Spokane County Courthouse, the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, and the Campbell House. 

Each student "adopted" one of the LEGO creations as their own to learn more about and Carol and Paul took the students to the actual places they "adopted": they visited the Spokane Falls, the Davenport Hotel, and St. John's Cathedral. 

At the museum, the students also got to view an exhibition entitled, "James Lavadour: Land of Origin", a five-decade retrospective of this artists' paintings exploring his deep connection with Eastern Oregon landscapes. 

I think they also peeked in on "The Davenport Legacy", an exhibition dedicated to the history of the Davenport Hotel. 

And where did Paul and Carol take their students for lunch? The Old Spaghetti Factory, yet another unforgettable way to acquaint these youngsters with more Spokane history! This longtime popular restaurant was founded in 1969. 

On a personal note, I'll always remember The Old Spaghetti Factory as the restaurant four of us went to after watching All the President's Men in 1976, my senior year at Whitworth, and discussed the movie over plates of pasta and glasses of affordable wine. A great memory! 

Ah, what the heck -- one more personal note. 

It can't hurt! 

Carol, Paul, and their students left Spokane close to the time Debbie and I arrived there.

I enjoy the idea that all seven of us had a most memorable time in Spokane on April 18th. 

If you read the blog post I put up yesterday, you know that Debbie and I loved the Get Lit/Northwest Passages event we attended at The Bing and I think, at some level, it will live with us for a long time. 

Three Beautiful Things 04-18-2026: Spokane and the Decades, Spokanealooza Part 1, Spokanealooza Part 2 at The Bing

1. From the time I was a little boy and our family visited my grandmother there, until now, I've, well, I've loved Spokane. To keep it brief, I loved our visits there, I loved going to ballgames and concerts in Spokane, I really loved going to school at Whitworth and I loved working at Whitworth in the Chaplain's Office and as an English instructor. 

Debbie lived in Spokane at different times in her life and for the nearly thirty years we've been friends, roommates, and spouses, she's told me great stories and we've made some fun tours, looking at landmarks from her life in Spokane and when she lived in Cheney. 

Needless to say, but I will anyway, I've enjoyed my regular (now less frequent) medical related trips to Spokane, most of them by myself, the fact that our monthly sibling outings are all happening in Spokane in 2026, and am really enjoying the trips Debbie and I have made (and have planned) together since Debbie returned home. 

2. Take, for example, our trip on Saturday, April 18th. 

We started our afternoon/evening Spokanealooza at Paradise Fibers, and Debbie found some yarn she was happy to purchase. 

We had plenty of time before tonight's main event and we scampered up to Trader Joe's on 29th and, among other things, purchased items so we could fulfill Christy's assignments to us for Sunday's family dinner. 

We wanted a light bite to eat and buzzed across South Spokane to Huckleberry's Natural Market at 926 S Monroe. We visited the 9th St. Bistro where Debbie made herself dinner at the salad bar and I had a turkey sandwich custom built. 

3. This weekend is the annual writers and literature festival in Spokane, Get Lit. 

Get Lit and Spokesman Review's community book club, Northwest Passages, collaborated to create the event we attended tonight. 

Tonight's event at The Bing featured Spokane author Jess Walter interviewing Portland writer and alt-country musician Willie Vlautin about his latest novel, The Left and the Lucky. 

It was a terrific hour. Vlautin talked about growing up in Reno, raised by his hard-working single mother and how, at a very young age, he began writing songs and later stories reflecting what he saw in the working class and underclass environment he grew up in and the feelings he experienced, and still does. 

He wasn't like most (or any) of the young guys at Reno High School. He loved to read. He hung a picture of John Steinbeck next to posters of The Clash and The Pogues in his bedroom.  He loved writing songs and listening to and making music. He loved writing and, together, music and writing became his life. 

He's been a longtime member of and songwriter for two bands: Richmond Fontaine (no longer together) and The Delines. 

The interview featured excerpts from two songs by The Delines: "Lil Earl" and "Christmas in Atlantis".

Neither one of us had heard of Willie Vlautin, even though he is not obscure. (This weekend he was interviewed by Scott Simon on National Public Radio.) 

We've decided, though, that if we don't have conflicts, we are going to every Northwest Passage night we can, whether we are ignorant or knowledgeable about the featured author. 

We loved being in a theater full of enthusiastic people cheering on the efforts of Get Lit and Northwest Passage.

As a bonus, we saw Teri, the leader of the Science/Nature Book Club we have joined at Auntie's Bookstore. We were all excited to see each other and it was fun, in a venue full of strangers to us, that we saw, talked to, and shared excitement with someone familiar to us. 

 

Three Beautiful Things 04-17-2026: Living Lighter, Ed's a Beer Pong Champ, Music in My Head

1. At Sunnyside Elementary School, instead of shooting a basketball into a hoop, I remember shooting through the triangle opening of a brace helping to secure the stability of a fire escape on the south side of the building. Remembering that, and period in our lives that Stu called a golden time, I responded that I have fun and enjoyable flashbacks to those years and have ditched the negative ones. As the day progressed, I realized I've ditched a lot of negative flashbacks along with the accompanying  painful feelings that used to rise up inside me. Those old feelings have, for the most part, dissolved. Being free of these feelings and focusing less and less on past grievances helps me live a lighter life. 

Almost all of my grievances these days are ones I direct at myself. 

Ditch those and I could join Scrooge and say, "I am light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man."

2. This afternoon at The Lounge, Ed told a great story about how he and his son Darren teamed up to conquer all comers at the Clearwater Casino in Lewiston and win last Saturday night's beer pong tournament. I could have told those challenging teams that when it comes to darts, pool, horseshoes, cribbage, poker, and now beer pong, Ed simply does not lose. 

3. When I began sometime in 2025 listening in earnest, like daily, to classical music, I hoped that I'd eventually start hearing different passages from different compositions in my head and be able to enjoy them even if the music wasn't playing. 

That's happening. 

Now I hope to go the next step and be able to identify the composer and the composition. 

Today I had what I think was a passage from Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major play in my head, but I'm not sure. 

One day I hope to be sure. 

And, one day, I hope to have instant recall of passages in different pieces when I hear or read them mentioned or be able to instantly identify them when they come on the radio. 

Three Beautiful Things 04-16-2026: Spreading the Word, Teamwork at Dinner, Trip to Pendleton -- It Won't Be Long

 1. Today I resumed efforts to make the Celebration of Life for Bruce Larsen a bit more widely known. I posted the date, time, and place on the Class of '72 Facebook page and the Class of '73 page as well. In the next little while, I am confident an obituary will get composed and published. I also sent out some personal messages to people who might not get the information on Facebook or via the group email I sent out. 

I'll post the details on this blog every seven to ten days even though I know that many people who read this blog are not from Kellogg and don't know Bruce.

But what can it hurt? 

Celebration of Life for Bruce Larsen

Date: June 13, 2026

Time: 1:00 p.m.

Place: Kellogg Elks Lodge, 202 McKinley Ave

2. Debbie subbed for a first grade teacher today and arrived home tired. She had a good day. Working with children, even when it goes well, is tiring. I don't think she has another sub date scheduled. This is in keeping with her plan to sub once in a while. She does it because she enjoys the children and enjoys being back at Pinehurst Elementary with the people she worked with. 

We teamed up on dinner. I made a pot of angel hair and Debbie made mixed olive oil, salt and pepper, minced garlic, red pepper flakes, and cherry tomatoes in a small bowl. She also grated some hard cheese and these ingredients worked beautifully on top of our pasta. 

3. Six of us will descend upon the Wildhorse Resort and Casino in about twelve days and the excitement of another trip to Pendleton began to rumble inside me today when Mike Stafford texted us to let us know he'd made reservations at Wildhorse's steak house, The Plateau. I'm nearly certain that Colette and I will meet for dinner in downtown Pendleton that week -- a tradition that we've enjoyed ever since Colette moved to Walla Walla.  

I'm getting stoked. 

Three Beautiful Things 04-15-2026: An Empty Day, I Help Debbie, Pork Stroganoff and Mashed Potatoes

1. Every so often, I seem to need a blank day, an empty day. Today was one:  no book reading, no classical music, no Winning Wednesday, some writing. I tended to my two fantasy baseball teams and did a load of laundry. 

2. I did, however, help Debbie. She subbed at Pinehurst Elementary for a half day. I drove her out. I picked up Gibbs from the groomer. I picked up Debbie after her work day ended and brought her home. 

3. Debbie had told me she had a plan for the pork we had left over from Sunday, so I didn't even cook dinner tonight. Debbie fixed a wonderful pork stroganoff sauce and served it not with rice, not with noodles, but with mashed potatoes. 

It was delicious. After dinner, I read some articles and columns online related to current events. 

That was about it. 

I bet I do more tomorrow. 

One thing I know: I'll be rested. 

Three Beautiful Things 04-14-2026: The Spokane Falls, Spokane Nostalgia and Spokane Now, Ice Cream in Spokane Valley

1. This idea, to go on a monthly outing to Spokane, that Christy, Carol, and I agreed to, is working beautifully for me. Every trip we've made to Spokane has opened my eyes to a new and stimulating aspect of Spokane and added to the exploring I've done by myself. 

Christy was in charge of today's outing and decided that we would explore Monroe Street, both north and south. 

After Christy bought us all coffee drinks at Wake Up Call Coffee in CdA, we headed to the City Hall area of Post Street, immediately found a superb parking spot, and made our way down toward the Spokane River and Huntington Park, all in the shadow of the Monroe Street Bridge. 

The river is running powerfully right now and so to get close to the swelling water and the boiling whitewater at the bottom of the raging Spokane Falls excited us. We also marveled at the blooming Serviceberry trees and other spring blossoms emerging and read signs telling us about the history of this vital part of the Spokane River in the city's history. 

2. We piled back into Christy's Sube and headed north on Monroe and parked in front of a fun store called Vintage Print and Neon. 

The store specializes in Spokane and Pacific Northwest nostalgia. 

Most of the store's items are not relics from the past, but are nostalgic creations by the store's owner like Olympia and Rainier Beer T-shirts and coasters or replicas of Chapter 11 menus. The owner has landed some relics, though, mostly neon signs: Reddy Kilowatt, the sign for the Italian Kitchen on N. Bernard, and others. 

We left Vintage Print and Neon (at the northwest corner of NW Blvd and Monroe) with Spokane memories dancing in our heads and, after turning back the clock, we then entered 2026 Spokane and ate lunch at the Kindred Public House, recently voted by Inlander readers as the best new restaurant in Spokane. 

3. We left Kindred nourished and satisfied and bolted up the south Monroe hill and indulged in a little more nostalgia. 

The three of us went on our first sibling outing back at the end of March, 2007. We had coffee at Doma when it was located in downtown CdA. We ate lunch at Jack and Dan's in Spokane. We did other things, including a trip to Huckleberry's Natural Market and today, nineteen years later, we returned for a run through, a purchase or two, and just to see how the store was holding up after thirty years in business -- very well, in fact.

We ended our outing to Spokane in Spokane Valley on N. Argonne Road at Pete and Belle's Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop for delicious scoops of ice cream. I had a scoop of loaded and chocolate-y/caramel-y Halley's Comet and a scoop of refreshing Strawberry Cheesecake. 

What a day! The powerful Spokane River awed us. Spokane nostalgia warmed us. We ate satisfying food. We indulged in delicious ice cream. 

I'm in charge for May and, stay tuned. I have a fun outing already planned! 

Three Beautiful Things 04-13-2026: Potatoes and GMOs, Another Appalachian Episode, Book Talk

1.  I finished the last chapter of The Botany of Desire today. It focused on the potato and developed into an examination of the former agrochemical and agricultural technology corporation, Monsanto (sold to the German chemical company Bayer in 2018). Much of this chapter discussed and illustrated Monsanto's work in the field of genetically modified organisms. 

In particular, Monsanto genetically engineered a potato called NewLeaf. The NewLeaf potato seed was genetically engineered to resist the Colorado beetle, thus altering the need to apply pesticides to eradicate this potato damaging pest. 

The first three chapters of this book explored apples and sweetness, tulips and beauty, mariuana and intoxication. 

This last chapter explored the potato and control. I learned about efforts in potato farming to control the look, taste, shape, and pest and disease resistance of the potato, much of it in service to satisfying consumers' desires for what a potato, a potato chip, and a French fry, among other potato products, ought to look and taste like. 

I'm ready to go back and read this book a second time and see if on a second reading I can get a better grip on its general argument and compelling explanations and detailed support. 

2. This evening, Debbie and I listened to another episode of the podcast Inside Appalachia. Its focus was on West Virginia, especially coal miners. You might remember that on April 5, 2010 a coal dust explosion occurred in the Upper Branch Mine, a Massey Energy owned coal mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia. Twenty-nine miners died. 

Inevitably, listening to one miner as he looked back and made his observations and shared feelings about the blast, my mind went back to the May 2, 1972 Sunshine Mine Fire/Disaster near Kellogg that killed ninety-one miners. 

It's not the first time that I've listened to miners and other citizens of the mining regions of Appalachia and thought about how connected these people are with people in mining towns here in North Idaho. 

I thought a lot about the many times I've listened to miners who survived the Sunshine Fire/Disaster being interviewed in the film You Are My Sunshine. It's all harrowing. 

3. It's fun when Debbie is home for many reasons, but one that I enjoy immensely is how we discuss books and the ways they are written. 

We both read books written in a variety of different time periods, books translated into English from other languages, and books of different genres, like poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. We also read as wide a variety of voices and experiences as we can.

This evening we had a relaxed conversation about styles of writing, especially about the English sentence. I mentioned that I thought sentences had an architecture and that I especially enjoyed the way, say, 19th century novelists would at times write long sentences, packed with subordination, often rich in detail, and that when this kind of sentence pops up in more contemporary prose, it fires me up. 

Three Beautiful Things 04-12-2026: Marijuana and Intoxication, Superb Family Dinner, The BIG Questions

 1. I found the chapter on marijuana in Michael Pollan's book Botany of Desire fascinating. Yes, on the one hand, I found his research into the history of marijuana and marijuana cultivation and the genetics that informed how growers developed better and better pot to be very interesting.

Even more interesting to me was his writing about consciousness and imagination and religious rites and how over the centuries different consciousness altering substances like wine, peyote, opium and others have enhanced religious and imaginative experiences, have aided shamans and others in their search for insight into mystical realities and have also aided poets, essayists, writers of fiction, and musicians (for starters) to explore insights and experiences and to imagine possibilities not otherwise available to them. 

Does Pollan write about the abuse of consciousness altering substances. 

Yes. 

But like the desire for sweetness and beauty, Pollan also explores the human desire for intoxication, why organic intoxicants exist in the natural world, and what results from the pursuit of different types and different levels of altering one's consciousness (I write this post feeling the pleasure of and experiencing the benefits of the mild enhancement I'm now enjoying under the influence of my second morning latte!).

I just fixed Debbie a latte and during my break from writing this post, I thought about how Pollan writes about marijuana's medicinal qualities in this chapter. I immediately thought of two friends whose quality of life is enhanced by marijuana. One suffers from PTSD and the other from chronic pain. 

Marijuana helps give them the relief they desire via a healing form of intoxication. 

Both friends are ambitious as they pursue their avocations and marijuana helps them pursue the activities they experience as sources of happiness and fulfillment. 

2. Debbie and I hosted tonight's family dinner and all I did to help out was vacuum the living room!

Debbie had a plan for dinner and she carried it out beautifully. 

She baked gluten free dinner rolls, made a shredded carrot salad, and mashed several potatoes as compliments to the delicious pork and sauerkraut casserole she also fixed. Carol air fried a startlingly delicious batch of lemon garlic tofu cubes and Christy baked a very tasty Olive Oil Almond and Orange cake which she served with Orange and Sweet Cream Ice Cream (I hope I got that name right...). 

3. I thoroughly enjoy discussions of Christianity and spiritual experience when everyone talks about these matters in their own language, on their own terms, and don't simply repeat what they've heard their pastors say or what they think they ought to say in order to conform with some sense of correctness. 

We had such a discussion after dinner tonight and fearlessly shared our thoughts about mysticism, love, ecumenism, original sin, the Holy Spirit, charismatic worship, and other topics as they came up. 

Not once did anyone say, "That's not right!" or "I disagree" or any other discouraging or conversation killing words. 

We are searching and questioning and trying out insights and possibilities; we approach these matters humbly, unrestricted by assertions of certainty or dogma. 

Three Beautiful Things 04-11-2026: Magic App, Tulip Mania, Wondrous Stir Fry

 1. Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! We received a very modest check (also known as a warrant) in the mail today from the State of Idaho. We filed an overpayment of our state income taxes. I told Debbie I'd mail it to the credit union and she told me that I can make a deposit via the OCCU app. I loaded up the app and PRESTO! the app took a picture of each side of the check and in a flash the transaction was complete. 

That was a fun thing to learn -- and amazed this codger. 

2. Do you remember the Dot-Com Bubble of the late 20th century? 

Well, what if I were to tell you that Holland experienced a TULIP bubble in 1634 that popped in 1637?

It's a period known as Tulip Mania. 

Tulips had become highly fashionable, and speculators suddenly became willing to pay extraordinarily high prices for bulbs and then the whole thing collapsed, and many people suffered great financial losses. 

If it weren't for reading the "Tulip" chapter of Michael Pollan's book The Botany of Desire, I never would have known about Tulip Mania nor about the evolutionary history of the tulip and I wouldn't know as much as I know now about the concept of beauty. 

Next chapter? 

Marijuana.

3. I tend to stock the stir fries I make with quite a few vegetables. 

Debbie, however, fixed a stir fry tonight that was very satisfying and the only vegetables she used were onion and spinach. She deftly combined soy sauce, honey, ginger, sesame oil, garlic, and maybe other ingredients into a superb sauce and added Thai wheat noodles. She also made a pot of brown rice, so I savored this delicious meal, one of the only times I can remember having both noodles and rice in my stir fry bowl. 

Three Beautiful Things 04-10-2026: Apples, Burgers at the Elks, The Lounge and Ice Cream and Potato Chips

1.  Before I read Chapter 1 of The Botany of Desire today, I basically knew the following about apples: I love biting into them, they taste great with peanut butter, I enjoy apples and cinnamon (apple pies and other baked apple desserts and in a bowl of oatmeal), and that they go great, when baked, with pork chops and pork roasts. 

Now I know so much more about the apple's genetic history, the story of John Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed, the countless varieties of apples, how grafting works, and how the number of varieties of apples has shrunk because of which varieties sell the best in grocery stores. 

Next up in this book: tulips. 

2. Debbie and I attended Burger Night at the Elks late this afternoon. We sat with Ed and saw a host of other friends and acquaintances. As always, I thoroughly enjoyed the scene and especially enjoyed the burger. It's not a monster burger. It's not a slider either but occupies that perfect spot in burger sizing where it satisfies my hunger but doesn't leave me feeling stuffed. 

And it tastes great.

3. We dropped in at The Lounge and it was an especially great time for Debbie. She visited a couple of tables and had great conversations with different people. I didn't mingle. I was happy sitting at the bar, nursing a Bud Zero, and having a pleasant mix of quiet time and conversations with Cas and some patrons who stopped by to chat. 

As we arrived home, Debbie told me that she wished we'd stopped at Yoke's, that chips and ice cream would make this a perfect evening.

I agreed and volunteered to go over to the store and I returned with barbecue chips and salted caramel ice cream and that's how we topped off our night on the town in Kellogg. 

Three Beautiful Things 04-09-2026: Mastery of Plants, What is Appalachia?, Another Perspective on *The Italian Symphony*

 1. The Science/Nature book club at Auntie's meets the first Tuesday of each month, giving Debbie and me plenty of time to read the club's next book, Michael Pollan's Botany of Desire. Through a study of the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato, Pollan's book will explore the evolution of these domesticated plants and their relationship to the human desire for sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control.

I've read the book's introduction. I told Debbie what I thought the book was about and she reminded me of this question: Does a virtuoso violin player master the violin or does the violin master the player? 

Likewise, do humans master these plants or do their inherent qualities of sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and pleasing taste master the gardener? 

We'll see.  

2. When we lived in Maryland, I discovered and became fascinated with a podcast from West Virginia Public Radio called Inside Appalachia. I know that the Silver Valley of North Idaho is not Appalachia, but as I listened to different episodes of this podcast and as I thought back on my many viewings of the documentary movie Harlan County, USA, I saw parallels.

Recently, Debbie read a book entitled What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia. 

So, tonight, Debbie asked me to find an episode of Inside Appalachia and I did and we listened to it together. 

The episode we listened to explored the question "What is Appalachia?" and over the next hour we learned (or were reminded) that the Appalachian Range extends from north Georgia to Maine and that the cultural, economic, and political variety in these regions between Maine and Georgia make the question of just what Appalachia is a complex one that reaches far beyond the stereotypes we might have. 

This podcast episode featured interviews with people from Georgia, Virginia, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, and elsewhere and included interviews with academic scholars and local historians about the history and the implications of this squishy word "Appalachia". 

It was fascinating. 

It did not, however, lead me to think about North Idaho as much as other episodes have. 

I thought this episode locked in on uniquely Appalachian issues and realities. 

3.  Back on March 29th, Debbie and I heard the Spokane Symphony perform Felix Mendelssohn's energetic and captivating Italian Symphony. I had gone to Spokane on March 26th to hear the symphony's conductor, James Lowe, lecture on the program that included this symphony and Debbie and I listened to his pre-concert lecture on the 29th.

I thoroughly enjoyed Lowe's analysis of the Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony and this evening I wondered if Debbie might like to hear another perspective on it. I knew that the podcast Sticky Notes, hosted by Joshua Weilerstein, who makes his living as a flourishing guest conductor around the world, did an episode on the Italian Symphony. 

She didn't want to listen to this -- she wanted to listen to something on Appalachia. 

So, when we finished listening to Inside Appalachia, I listened to Joshua Weilerstein's hour long take on this symphony. It was my bedtime story. 

Musically, in terms of symphonic form, Lowe and Weilerstein had a similar understanding of this piece. 

Their interpretations of what Mendelssohn was inviting his audience to experience, however, were not the same. 

This fascinated me. 

For Lowe, each movement represented Mendelssohn's impressions of and experience in four different Italian cities: Venice, Rome, Florence, and Naples. 

For Weilerstein, the symphony was more pastoral, a way for Mendelssohn to express what he experienced in the Italian countryside, but not exclusively -- he, too, heard elements of urban life in the piece.

I thought their different ways of interpreting the symphony complimented each other. They also broadened my experience with this piece.

They definitely agreed on the most important point: it's a symphony that expresses how Italy energized Mendelssohn and inspired him to compose a symphony full of the joy of life and the vitality of beauty.