Thursday, July 20, 2017

Three Beautiful Things 07/19/17: Lunch with Dan, Lane County Fair, Belgian Beers

1. After the Deke did some shopping at Old Navy and the two of us picked up a few things at Trader Joe's, and after I dropped the Deke off at Laura's for another day of practice, I met Dan Armstrong for lunch at Ta Ra Rin. We are both dealing with members of our family being seriously ill and discussed the heartache of loss we have experienced and the loss that inevitably lies ahead. We talked about other things, too, and closed out our time together with a great discussion of the movie, The Conversation. I had remembered correctly that this is one of Dan's favorite of all movies and it was great fun to gush together about how much we both love Gene Hackman's performance and the masterful making of the movie.

2. In the afternoon, Russell and I resumed our tradition of going on photo walks together by going to the Lane County Fair and walking around in the midway, watching the pig races, and checking out the photography exhibits.  I hadn't been to the Lane County Fair for about thirty years and it was fun to see people enjoying the rides and playing the different games and having a chance to talk about stuff with Russell.

3. The Troxstar and I strolled from downtown to the Bier Stein where we joined Carolyn, Rick, Shane, Loren, and, for a while, Bingham for a Belgian beatdown/blowout. It was great fun yakkin' with everyone and buying tall bottles of Belgian beer to share together and rave about how good it all tasted. It turned out to be a great evening for walking home, too.  The contrast between these cool evenings in Eugene and the humid evenings in Maryland is remarkable -- this July weather in Eugene is a comfort, a great relief.

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