Three Beautiful Things 08-30-19: Jack and the Drive-by Truckers, Back to Richard Thompson, Peacharillo

1. Today was white water rafting day on the Clark Fork River in Montana for Josh, Jack, and Patrick; in the meantime, Meagan, Adrienne, and Debbie spent a short time in Missoula. To help them prepare for their outing, Jack and I made a quick shopping trip to Yoke's and picked up a few things. Jack was a very good shopping companion, talkative, well-behaved, and eager to help out. For the second time, when Jack and I were in the car, he put the Drive-by Truckers in the cd player and enjoyed blasting "Hell No I Ain't Happy" as we made our way to Yoke's and back again.

2. Until he called to work, Ed and I were going to make a trip to Worley. With the house to myself, I continued what Jack had started and gave myself a Drive-by Truckers concert. Soon Debbie texted me a request to make beef stroganoff. We had steak left over from last night and I had a pound of ground beef thawed in the refrigerator. I returned to Yoke's for some sour cream, mushrooms, and zucchini for the mess of fried corn and other vegetables Debbie planned to make. I made the stroganoff sauce and a pot of Jasmine rice and changed the concert music from the Drive-by Truckers to Richard Thompson and then Richard and Linda Thompson.

I especially enjoyed listening to songs Richard and Linda Thompson recorded between 1974-82, remembering when Jeff Harrison first played Shoot Out the Lights for me on a trip to Oakland to see the Grateful Dead in the late 80s and I happily recalled when I brought the cd Hokey Pokey to the Wednesday night Shakespeare class in around 1994 because I thought there was something Shakespearean in the way Richard and Linda Thompson played light and dark tones off of one another in the album's title song. I never saw Richard and Linda Thompson perform together, but starting in the summer of about 1991, I went to every Richard Thompson performance I could get to in Portland and Eugene over the next six years or so and heard him one last time in Eugene about 8-10 years ago. I fondly remembered nights at the NW Service Center, Aladdin, Roseland Theater, Washington Park, The Wild Duck, and other places I heard Richard Thompson whether solo, with a band, or as a duet with bassist Danny Thompson.

3. We ate our dinner on the deck. I'd been sitting on a 22 oz bottle of peach sour ale called Peacharillo from Urban Brewing for a few months, waiting for a time when someone else who enjoys sours might help me drink it. Tonight, I got to crack it open and Meagan and Patrick helped me drink this bottle of beer. It was fun. Since moving to Kellogg, I rarely have the opportunity to drink sour ales and I enjoyed drinking it the way I most enjoy sours -- as a dessert beer.