Three Beautiful Things 12-03-20: Walking a Loop, Reunion with Jeff Steve - Meeting Anne, Chicken in the Kitchen

1. I had my annual Medicare wellness check-up today at the clinic uptown. I drove to the Trail of Cd'As near the corner of Railroad Ave and Hill St., parked the car, and walked west on the trail and turned south where there's an asphalt path from the trail up to the back side of the Shoshone County Mining and Smelting Museum and on east a short ways to the clinic. After I finished my successful check-up and had some blood drawn, I walked east on McKinley Ave, down the Hill St. hill, and back to the Sube. I prefer walking a loop and I liked this loop. It includes walking up hill and down, covers about a mile, takes just under twenty minutes, and I can imagine some ways to extend this route without retracing my steps. This is good news in my inconsistent walking life.

2. Jeff Steve was a student at Whitworth when I taught there the second time, but we didn't know each other in Spokane. He's from Coeur d'Alene where we had several mutual friends and acquaintances, but we didn't really get to know each other until he moved into an apartment building at the corner of 8th and Lawrence, directly behind the building I lived in on W. Broadway in Eugene.  Jeff earned his law degree at the University of Oregon. We lost touch, but rediscovered each other on Facebook and, in 2010, Jeff and I reunited at the Steve family place perched above Cougar Bay on Lake CdA -- and visit which included a visit from NIC powerhouse English instructor, Virginia Tinsley-Johnson, a great pleasure.

Jeff lives in Ventura, CA now and one of his avocations is kayak building. 

Jeff and his pal Anne came through Kellogg today on their way to Minnesota. Jeff was delivering a kayak he sold. They stopped for a while early this afternoon and we made the most of our time together with about an hour of conviviality, laughter, and reminisces. I enjoyed very much meeting Anne and enjoyed hearing what they have planned for their trip between here and Minnesota. 

3. I cooked a whole chicken this evening and used about half of it to make a pot of chicken noodles with carrots, celery, and onion. I'm experimenting with cloves and allspice in the chicken broth which I enjoyed a lot. I have bones, now, to make chicken stock and about half a chicken's worth of pieces to make another chicken dish -- I don't know what, yet, but I'm thinking it might include some of that rice I cooked up Wednesday night.