1. The Deke and I piled into the Sube and swung on over to CdA and attended the annual festival, Art on the Green. This weekend marks the 50th anniversary of the festival. This means a lot to my longtime friend from CdA, Eugene, and Whitworth, Jeff Steve, whose mother was one of those who got this festival going in 1968.
Today, guitarist Leon Atkinson, who taught guitar at Whitworth and whom I heard perform at Whitworth over thirty-five years ago, played a set at Art on the Green this morning. I knew from text messages we'd exchanged that Jeff would be there from Ventura to hear Leon and that Jeff might perform during Leon's set -- and that's exactly what happened. Jeff played one piece solo and Leon joined in and they played a duet on another piece. Jeff composed both of them. Leon's set transported me back to when he played on occasion at Forum at Whitworth and triggered very pleasant memories of when his playing inspired me to buy at least one Julian Bream album and other classical guitar recordings. It was part of a project I undertook all through college and graduate school, at NIC, Whitworth, and the U. of Oregon, to expose myself to all kinds of classical music. After Leon's set ended, Jeff and I embraced, I introduced him to the Deke, we chatted for a while, and we made plans to meet up on Thursday.
2. The Deke and I didn't hang around the festival long after making plans with Jeff. Instead, we headed up to Daft Badger and enjoyed a beer and spilt a Banh Mi sandwich and an arugula salad. After watching the documentary The Vietnam War, I know that the French occupation of Vietnam was awful. If, however, anything good came out of that occupation, I would very tentatively say that it was good that the French introduced the Vietnamese to the baguette and that the great Banh Mi sandwich was born. The Banh Mi combines pickled vegetables with fresh crisp ones, herbs, some kind of meat, and often includes a brilliant sauce of some kind. The Daft Badger's Banh Mi was made of smoked turkey, pickled daikon radishes and carrots, fresh cucumber, cilantro, and two Asian sauces -- one was a lime sauce and I can't remember the other one. It was a superb sandwich and reminded me of the Banh Mi I enjoyed one day in Eugene at the eatery called Bon Mi on East Broadway.
3. The Deke wanted to buy some yarn so we stopped in at the yarn store near Fred Meyer on Kathleen in CdA and then, since we were in the neighborhood, we decided to stop in at the tasting room at Tricksters Brewing where we shared a flight of their beers which included their Blonde Ale, Pale Ale, Juice Box IPA, a collaborative IPA, an Amber Ale, and their American Stout. I want to return to Trickster Brewing and try to define for myself better what made their beers unique, especially the Blonde Ale and the Pale Ale. I enjoyed the beers a lot and found them way different from any other beers I've enjoyed in North Idaho, but I can't quite say what made them unique. One day, I might figure it out for myself. The Deke and I like, on occasion, to shop at the Fred Meyer near Trickster, so I'm thinking we might not only continue to shop there, but also add on a quick stop at Trickster when its hours and our shopping coincide.
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