Three Beautiful Things 05/26/17: Root Canal and 21st Century History, Curry Noodle Salad, Mom at Christy's

1.  A dental bridge dropped out of the Deke's mouth on Thursday, and this morning she went to the dentist at 8 a.m. and, before she knew it, she was in the middle of a root canal -- a painless root canal. I spent the time she was in the dentist's chair reading articles in the latest New Yorker about former Acting United States Attorney General, Sally Yates, our Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, and the current state of oligarchy in Russia, ruled over by the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. Taken together, these articles comprised a short, if narrow, history of the 21st century so far as they examined the realignment of power in Russia, explored the history of our country's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and reported on the early days of President Donald John Trump's administration.  It's all sobering.

2. I wanted to make a curry noodle salad and no single recipe was quite what I wanted so I improvised. I made a curry dressing of coconut milk, green curry paste, minced ginger, minced garlic, tamari, fish sauce, and brown sugar. I boiled and iced a package of wide rice noodles after I roasted and cooled eggplant pieces, chopped up a red pepper, and fixed and iced a package of frozen green beans. I mixed it all up and put the salad in the fridge. We ate the salad a few hours later. My improvisation worked. It was the fourth night this week that we ate a flavor packed salad for dinner. It's sure a fun way to prepare delicious food that gives me a way to both take good care of my kidneys and experiment with flavors and textures.

3. Cousin Lura and her husband Lyle drove from Orofino to Kellogg on Thursday to spend a few days with Christy and Everett and to visit Mom. This evening, Everett fired up the grill and Lura cooked her world famous burgers and Christy prepared her semi-famous potato salad.

Mom joined the party in Christy and Everett's back yard, giving her some time to be away from Kindred and to enjoy time with family. Just before eating, Christy called me so I could talk with Mom and she sounded happy to be out in the sun and fresh air.  Christy and I also had a good talk about how things are going with Mom and the challenges of the moment and those that lie ahead. I haven't quite nailed down when I will arrive in Kellogg in the coming couple of weeks or so, but Christy helped create a clear picture of what I can expect.  Here's a picture of Mom enjoying Friday's cookout: