Three Beautiful Things 12-30-2021: Afternoon with Copper and Luna, Relaxing Indoors, Skyline Chili Dinner (OMG!)

 1. With Patrick, Debbie, and Meagan gathered in the living room, talking some, reading, knitting, just quietly taking it easy, I slipped into the bedroom and spent an unusually long time with Copper and Luna. I took a blissful nap, my body tired from shoveling last night's snow this morning. I worked acrostic puzzles. Copper and Luna relaxed. Luna alternated between climbing on my chest and resting near my pillow. Copper never lay very close to me, but, from time to time, I pet him, listened to him purr, and was warmed by how contented he continues to be, day to day.

2. We are fortunate with it being cold and the roads covered with snow and ice that none of us had to leave the house. Debbie and Megan set up a jigsaw puzzle on our card table. Patrick went online and not only followed the journey of the James Webb Space Telescope, but participated in a Webb Telescope chat room. We split a delicious 16 oz Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout from Radio Brewing between us. We put the Sirius XM Neil Young Channel on for music. Gibbs loved the company and curled up in a ball of contentment on the couch. 

3. I have often regretted that when Debbie and I spent around five or six days or so in Cincinnati back in 2005 that I never patronized the Skyline Chili that sat on Ludlow and Clifton, within walking distance of Adrienne's apartment. Since then, I've heard sports show radio hosts, broadcasters on television, and, most persuasively, Julie Rockwell, rave about eating Cincinnati (or Skyline) Chili at one of these restaurants.

So, tonight, sixteen years after my failure to go to Skyline Chili, Meagan and Patrick teamed up and fixed us a Five-Way for dinner. Meagan's sister had given Patrick a four pack of Skyline Chili cans for Christmas and Megan and Patrick brought spaghetti, the cans of sauce (chili), Tillamook medium cheddar cheese, a can of kidney beans, and a white onion. The also brought oyster crackers and we provided the hot sauce. 

So, for starters, Skyline Chili is not chili con carne. It's not the chili I have been eating all my life.  It's a sweet-savory sauce with hints of cinnamon and cloves and chocolate complemented with spices like cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder. It's not spicy hot, but mild. 

Moreover, the sauce goes on top of spaghetti. Then some choices come into play: do you want kidney beans? Do you want chopped raw onions? Do you want a pile of shredded cheddar cheese to cover your chili dish? If you look at a Skyline Chili menu, you'll that there are three ways to have this dish:

A 3-Way: spaghetti, chili sauce, cheese

A 4-Way: spaghetti, chili sauce, beans OR onions, cheese

A 5-Way: spaghetti, chili sauce, beans AND onions, cheese

Meagan warmed up the Skyline Chili sauce with a can of kidney beans in the sauce. 

We all made ourselves 5-Way bowl. On the bottom of the bowl we put spaghetti, then a layer of sauce and beans, then chopped white onion, and we topped it off with a generous amount of shredded cheddar cheese.

We put out a bottle of Frank's RedHot Sauce for anyone who wanted to heat up their bowl. Meagan also put out a bowl of oyster crackers to put on our 5-Way. 

I splashed Frank's on my bowl and added oyster crackers.

Oh My God! 

I discovered tonight that I LOVE Skyline (Cincinnati) Chili! I cracked open a couple of mini cans of Coca Cola and this dinner sent me straight to dinner heaven. 

I am ecstatic that after all these years,  I lucked out, that Meagan is from Northern Kentucky, is at home in Cincinnati, has eaten countless of bowls of Skyline Chili, and that she and Patrick joined forces to make this dinner and introduce Debbie and me to this superb dish.

Here are a couple pictures that help illustrate this divine meal and the great fun Debbie and I had with Meagan and Patrick:

Three Beautiful Things 12-29-2021: Relief from Snowfall, Patrick and Meagan Drive 1-90, We Yak and I Repost a *Readable Version* of the Huckleberries Column

1.  I was grateful today that it didn't snow much. It gave me a chance to dig out more of our driveway, clear snow off of the top of the Sube, and make a pretty easy trip to Yoke's. While the snow encasing the trees and covering the hills and mountains gives me a sense of inner calm, the flip side is that the snow requires shoveling and I welcomed the break from having to do a lot of that today. So did my back.

2. Patrick and Meagan had an eventful flight on Tuesday from Cincinnati to Seattle -- delays, long wait on the SeaTac tarmac, etc -- and were worn out today. They slept in. They didn't start their drive to Kellogg from Seattle until early in the afternoon. But, thank goodness, the break in the weather was more than a source of relief for my back! It also meant road conditions were pretty good and Patrick and Meagan had no problems driving to Kellogg and arrived in the early evening. They kept Debbie and me posted on their progress as they traveled east and, to our relief, their travel news was good each time they checked in.

3. Upon their arrival, Debbie, Patrick, Meagan, and I immediately fell into an all evening yakkin' session. Often at family or social get togethers, it's difficult to talk at any length about the news, the difficulties of the pandemic, polarization all around us, the history of the USA that laid the groundwork for the moment we live in, and other pertinent matters. But, Debbie, Patrick, Meagan, and I talk easily about these things and we got a lot of our perspectives and insights on the table this evening.

At one point, I took us on a short detour. I told Meagan and Patrick that Dave Oliveria had led his Dec. 24th "Huckleberries" column in the CdA Press with a story about me, my blog, 3BTs, and our family. Meagan wondered where she could read it and I went to the blog post where I had copied and pasted it and discovered that unless you highlight the text on my 12-24-2021 blog post, DFO's article is just a dark block.

If you happened to try to read Dave Oliveria's column at the end of my 12-24-2021 blog post and found the dark block, well, you can read the article at the end of this post because tonight, rather than copy and past it,  I typed it out. 

Here it is: 

Huckleberries: 3 blessings + family dinner = happy life

By D. F. Oliveria 

December 24, 2021

Bill Woolum awakens each morning with visions of silver linings dancing in his head -- in triplicate.

Since November 2006, the retired college instructor has found "Three Beautiful Things" daily to spotlight his blog, kellogg bloggin' (kelloggbloggin.blogspot.com).

Gonzaga basketball. Photography. Retirement. Beer. Books. Movies. Music. Episcopal worship experiences. Joys of teaching. Living back East. Moving back to Kellogg.

In 2017, he glimpsed a "grave beauty" in the death of his beloved mother, as grievous as it was.

The "Three Beautiful Things" feature has become "a very good habit," Bill tells Huckleberries.

"It has helped shape my day-to-day attitude about my life and my habits of observation and contemplation," Bill said. "The fact that I' writing about these things first thing (almost) every morning sharpens my attention."

Bill blogs under the pseudonym Raymond Pert, in honor of his father.

Raymond "Pert" Woolum toiled for three decades in Bunker Hill's zinc plant, retiring in 1982 when the company shut. His mother, Mary, was an elementary school teacher who helped launch the Talented and Gifted program for Kellogg School District.

His mother's failing helped reunite Bill with his two sisters in Kellogg.

After teaching a Lane Community College in Eugene, Ore., and moving with wife, Debbie, to a Washington, D.C. suburb, Bill spent stretches of time visiting his ailing mother. Bill and Debbie now live in the family home, purchased in 1962. Sister Christy resides next door. Carol is five minutes away. 

Their weekly family dinners provide regular fodder for kellogg bloggin'. 

"Family dinner," Bill said, "keeps us in close touch with each other, gives us a chance to try out different recipes, expands our cocktail possibilities, and (reminds us) that we are blessed to be living in Kellogg at the same time."

The daily blogging doubles as a journal, especially as Bill ages and has "more and more days and years to lose track of."

It's also therapeutic.

Two years before he started Kellogg Bloggin', Bill was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. In 2015 he was placed on a transplant list. Two years ago, his kidney doctor was surprised that he wasn't receiving dialysis. Or hasn't received a transplant. 

Bill believes his search for the positive in mundane things has improved his mental health and stabilized his kidneys. And who's to say differently?

Three Beautiful Things 12-28-2021: Thank You for the Birthday Greetings!, Zags Blowout, RIP John Madden

1. On Facebook, I posted a note of appreciation for the many birthday wishes people posted to me on Monday. I was not expecting to then receive a whole bunch of belated birthday wishes.  I loved reading these greetings. I enjoyed seeing the list of names of people who clicked on "like" or posted 💕 s. I relished the cherished memories each name stirred in me,  memories of Little League baseball, playing ball at the Y, being at Whitworth together, putting on plays at LCC, working in the English Dept at LCC and having friends across campus, and more additional memories than I can list here, I enjoyed the feeling of having lived an extravagant life, full of great friends and family and enjoyable everyday experiences. I let that feeling warm me on this day when the weather was cold but not my countless treasured recollections. Thanks everyone! 

2. I put together a plate of salami slices, Cracker Barrel Vermont White Cheddar slices, and saltine crackers and cracked open a 16 oz can of Miller High Life beer and watched the Zags methodically defeat the North Alabama Lions, 93-63. I always stick with these blowouts because I like to watch seldom used Zags play toward such a game's end. But as Coach Few emptied the bench, my Amazon Fire Stick temporarily crapped out, so I didn't get to watch the bench warmers in action. Oh, well. With a reboot, the Fire Stick worked again, but by then Judge Judy was holding court and I turned off the Vizio and turned my attention elsewhere.

3. The great John Madden died today. He was 85 years old. He was a very successful head coach with the Raiders, a legendary analyst, and a video game icon. I watched videos of him on YouTube for a while today. I watched some Ken Stabler highlights -- in my mind, the Snake and John Madden are inseparable. I watched some of Madden's comic bits -- his analysis of NY Giant Gatorade buckets and a Dallas-Washington game when pigeons were on the field. I've lost interest in football over the last several years, but I enjoyed that when I did care about football and watched a lot of it, that John Madden was prevalent in my experience, whether waving his arms as a head coach or providing exuberant insight as a broadcaster. 

Three Beautiful Things 12-27-2021: A Purposeful Do Nothing Birthday, Acrostic Puzzles, Deborah's Email Made Me Very Happy

 1. I realized on Christmas Day and as I sat in Carol and Paul's living room before our Indian dinner on Dec. 26th that our several fun and lively family get togethers had made me tired. Back when I was teaching, I called the cause of this kind of fatigue "positive stress". I don't think that's my term, by the way. I think I picked it up somewhere. I came to learn that even fun, mirth, good times with family and friends, and successful and energetic days in the classroom can tire me out.

Therefore, especially because our family celebrated Debbie's and my birthday (along with our wedding anniversary) on Friday, I decided that today I would rest. Yes, I would shovel snow, as needed. But, otherwise, I decided to have an uneventful birthday. I would rest. I would take naps. I would eat food that needed little preparation. At some point, I might have a drink.

And, that's what I did. 

I chilled, rested, vegged, lounged, drowsed, catnapped, relaxed, and, on occasion, stared blankly into the vast unknown.

Oh! I conversed some with Debbie. 

It was a perfectly envisioned and carried out birthday.

2. I had thought I might watch a movie or two. I didn't. I thought I might write some letters and cards. I didn't. I thought I might want the house to be quiet all day. It was (aside from conversation and Gibbs barking once in a while).

I thought this afternoon that I might work some acrostic puzzles.

That's what I did and I completed four of them.

Around 9:30 or so, I capped this day of rest, of eggs and rice, of beans and rice, with one cocktail. I poured brandy and Benedictine over ice, slowly sipped on it, let it warm and further relax me, and I went to bed.

3. Earlier in the day, I heard from Deborah. We have been friends ever since 1974 when we met at Whitworth. We correspond regularly and today she wrote to me that one of her nephews and his wife from Eugene had visited her and Scott in southern Idaho. 

It turns out they had both been students of mine at LCC over twenty years ago.

Deborah made it a point to tell me that they both remembered me happily and positively. I loved reading that. 

In the midst of all my resting and puzzle working, Deborah's email made my already happy birthday a really joyous day. 

Three Beautiful Things 12-26-2021: Picture of Toasting Everett, ZOOMing About Young People, Food from India at the Roberts' House

 1. As I was doing my morning routine this morning, Christy posted the picture we took with the camera function and a timer on Zoe's cell phone. It's a superb picture of Christy surrounded by 4/5 of the Roberts family and Debbie and me, all with Jolly Juice and a single ice cube in a red solo cup, just the way Everett liked to enjoy beverages. We are toasting Everett, honoring his long and full life. The picture shows we can be happy, happy to be together, happy to be raising a cup to Everett, and sad, sad that Everett died last year, happy and sad at the same time. 

You'll find the picture at the bottom of this post.

2.  Colette, Bridgit, Bill, Diane, and I jumped on the ZOOM machine around 2:00. I enjoyed the 50 minutes I got to hang out with my Westminster Basement Study Group friends, especially as we talked about the gulfs that exist between our generation and younger people, but also about ways gulfs do not exist. I've written many times in this blog about how much Debbie and I enjoy striking up conversations with young people when we are out and about and how fortunate we've been to hit it off with essentially all of them. I haven't been in a college classroom now for nearly seven years. I miss the day to day interactions I had with young people when I taught and it makes me happy that I can fill that void, to a degree, when we go out. 

I also enjoy listening to my nieces talk about their experiences and hearing them comment on life. I don't always know what they are talking about -- I don't play video games, listen to much contemporary music, or go to superhero or apocalyptic or celebrity-centered movies; I don't go to Comicons, I don't make references in conversation to Star War movies or The Lord of the Rings, and I have no idea how to make a Tik Tok. It doesn't matter. I don't need to know in order to enjoy their enjoyment and, to my delight, I learn about things I'd never know if it weren't for younger people in my life. 

3. Carol and Paul began a tradition many years ago of preparing and eating a Christmas dinner with food from a country outside the USA on Christmas Eve. When they moved to Kellogg, they brought this tradition with them. Because Cosette worked on Christmas Day, we moved our international dinner to the day after Christmas -- I guess we could have called it our Boxing Day dinner.

This year we prepared and enjoyed food from India. We had samosas for an appetizer. Our dinner was a cornucopia of foods, textures, great smells, and spices (with emphasis on little or no spicy heat). The dinner centered around curry chicken with a fried rice dish. In its support we ate a creamy Indian salad, a split pea soup with white rice, a green bean dish, a dish combining cauliflower and potatoes, and naan (bread). 

After dinner, we retired to the living room and I loved the dessert Christy made. It was a cashew based square topped with edible glitter called Kaju Katli. 

I am not the volume eater I once was, so I couldn't every bite that was on my plate. But sampled and enjoyed each dish. It was fun to enjoy so many flavors we aren't used to. Now I'd like to focus on some of these dishes and their flavors one or two at a time. I could do this at home with Debbie or as a family dinner option. 

Here's our Jolly Juice picture. 

Back row, left to right, Bill, Debbie, Carol, Paul.

Front row, left to right: Molly, Christy, Zoe. 

Three Beautiful Things 12-25-2021: Family Gift Exchange, Coma Sleep with Copper and Luna, Jolly Juice and Dinner at Christy's

 1. Around 10:00, Debbie and I joined Christy, Carol, Paul, Zoe, and Molly at the Roberts' for a Christmas gift exchange. Carol laid out a German pancake, a variety of fresh fruits, sausage links, a variety of fruit juices, and coffee for us to enjoy while we all took turns opening gifts. Family members gave me great gifts: beer, books, a Maryland hoodie, a DC Brau T-shirt, a Radio Brewing T-shirt and they also gave Debbie and me some shared gifts like a collection of barrel aged bitters, a book of Mediterranean recipes, Mediterranean spices, and some high quality salami with Murray's white cheddar cheese. 

2. The combination of our evening party of Christmas Eve and the excitement of this morning's gift exchange wore me out and moved me to give Copper and Luna their favorite gift: my company on the bed! Luna attached herself to my chest, neck, and shoulder, purring like a motorboat, and eventually Copper pressed himself against my lower legs. Before long, I fell into a blissful state of coma-sleep. I stayed in the bedroom for nearly three hours and emerged restored and refreshed.

3. It's a good thing I got some rest. At 6:00, Debbie and I joined Carol, Paul, Zoe, Molly, and Christy at Christy's house for a clam chowder dinner. Christy made a very delicious and creamy vegetable clam chowder that Mom used to make around Christmas time (I think), Zoe and Molly teamed up to make cheese bread in balls that were arranged like a Christmas tree on the pan, Carol brought white and red sangria, and Debbie and brought a salad and pesto to dip bread in. I also brought over brandy and white creme de menthe for anyone who wanted a stinger after dinner. 

We started our dinner with a cocktail Christy fashioned and named Jolly Juice, in memory and in honor of Everett.  It was a combination of lemon vodka, limoncello, and lemonade. We topped of this cocktail with some tonic water, a favorite move of Everett's. Christy took her place in a chair and the rest of us gathered around her for a Christmas family picture and we raised a toast in memory of Everett. 

Three Beautiful Things 12-24-2021: 3BTs in the CdA Press (Copied and Pasted Here), Happy Anniversary, An Evening Party

 1. I knew that in today's CdA Press, Dave Oliveria was going to feature this blog and my daily Three Beautiful Things and the Woolum family in his weekly Huckleberries column. It was fun to look up the article first thing this morning, to enjoy it, and to let others know where to go to read it. I realized that some might want to read it but might hit a paywall, so I copied and pasted the article into this blog post. Want to read it? Just scroll down and you'll see it.

2. Today marks Debbie's and my 24th wedding anniversary. It was fun remembering back to 1997. Adrienne, Patrick, and Molly flew to be with family in Chicagoland and Debbie and I took off from Eugene on Dec. 23rd, spent the night in Spokane with friends, and then drove to CdA and exchanged vows at the Hitching Post Lakeside Chapel in CdA. After our brief ceremony, we drove to Kellogg and honeymooned in my childhood home. Mom hosted us. We ate dinners and exchanged gifts  with Mom, Christy, Everett, and Carol and Paul's family. 

It's astonishing to look back at that Christmas Eve and look at all that has happened in the intervening twenty-four years. I certainly didn't think on our wedding day that twenty years later, in 2017, we would we living in the very house where we spent our first night of marriage. 

3. Debbie's birthday was on Tuesday. Mine is coming up on Monday. Our anniversary is today. We have family get togethers planned for Christmas Day and the day after Christmas. 

We decided to have one party tonight to commemorate the birthdays and the anniversaries. Debbie prepared hors d'oeuvres and mulled white wine, Diane T. brought a delicious charcuterie board, Carol and family brought nuts and bolts, Christy baked a delicious pie, and, along with Liz M., we all joined together and snacked, enjoyed another's company, and celebrated this busy time of family events to be happy about.

Huckleberries: 3 blessings + family dinner = happy life

By D. F. Oliveria 

December 24, 2021

Bill Woolum awakens each morning with visions of silver linings dancing in his head -- in triplicate.

Since November 2006, the retired college instructor has found "Three Beautiful Things" daily to spotlight his blog, kellogg bloggin' (kelloggbloggin.blogspot.com).

Gonzaga basketball. Photography. Retirement. Beer. Books. Movies. Music. Episcopal worship experiences. Joys of teaching. Living back East. Moving back to Kellogg.

In 2017, he glimpsed a "grave beauty" in the death of his beloved mother, as grievous as it was.

The "Three Beautiful Things" feature has become "a very good habit," Bill tells Huckleberries.

"It has helped shape my day-to-day attitude about my life and my habits of observation and contemplation," Bill said. "The fact that I' writing about these things first thing (almost) every morning sharpens my attention."

Bill blogs under the pseudonym Raymond Pert, in honor of his father.

Raymond "Pert" Woolum toiled for three decades in Bunker Hill's zinc plant, retiring in 1982 when the company shut. His mother, Mary, was an elementary school teacher who helped launch the Talented and Gifted program for Kellogg School District.

His mother's failing helped reunite Bill with his two sisters in Kellogg.

After teaching a Lane Community College in Eugene, Ore., and moving with wife, Debbie, to a Washington, D.C. suburb, Bill spent stretches of time visiting his ailing mother. Bill and Debbie now live in the family home, purchased in 1962. Sister Christy resides next door. Carol is five minutes away. 

Their weekly family dinners provide regular fodder for kellogg bloggin'. 

"Family dinner," Bill said, "keeps us in close touch with each other, gives us a chance to try out different recipes, expands our cocktail possibilities, and (reminds us) that we are blessed to be living in Kellogg at the same time."

The daily blogging doubles as a journal, especially as Bill ages and has "more and more days and years to lose track of."

It's also therapeutic.

Two years before he started Kellogg Bloggin', Bill was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. In 2015 he was placed on a transplant list. Two years ago, his kidney doctor was surprised that he wasn't receiving dialysis. Or hasn't received a transplant. 

Bill believes his search for the positive in mundane things has improved his mental health and stabilized his kidneys. And who's to say differently?

Three Beautiful Things 12-23-2021: Farewell Billy Mac's, Snow Dog Christmas Party, Prepping the Camry for Winter

Note: Dave Oliveria led his Huckleberries column in the CdA Press on 12-24-2021 with a story about kellogg bloggin' and Three Beautiful Things. If you'd like to read it, click right here.  

1. I'd say if a person has one place to frequent that buoys their spirit, makes them feel welcome and whole,  at peace even, provides a venue for great conversation, and is a place where people they treasure also gather, that person is fortunate. 

I experience such places as spiritual centers.  I frequented five of them when I lived in Eugene, OR:

1. St. Mary's Episcopal Church

2. Lane Community College's Blue Door Theater

3. 16 Tons Taphouse and Bottleshop

4. Cornucopia on 17th

5. Billy Mac's Bar and Grill 

Well, tonight, on December 23, 2021,  Billy Mac's, one of my spiritual centers,  closed. 

Eugene Weekly featured the closing in a story, here. 

On the northwest corner of Jefferson and 19th, in a predominantly residential neighborhood, sat a one story building divided into two businesses. From the street, especially as you traveled on Jefferson, you'd see the sign for the Little "Y" Market, a convenience store with a pretty good inventory of wine and beer. 

The Little "Y" occupies the east half of the building.

Billy Mac's occupied the west half.

It was, to me, the ideal neighborhood bar and grill, the best I've experienced.

Back in the early summer of 2010, on one of our Saturday photowalks, Russell invited me to join him and other LCC instructors and friends of theirs at Billy Mac's for their weekly Thursday night dinner.

So my discovery of Billy Mac's and having it become a spiritual center began about eleven and a half years ago. At first, I only went to Billy Mac's on Thursdays and, at first, I left Billy Mac's when our Thursday dinner parties ended.

Slowly over time, though, I started sticking around after dinner, bellying up to the bar, shooting the breeze with employees, especially Cathy, Derek, and John, watching games on the television, sometimes having John and Derek say, at closing time, "You don't have to leave. Hang around and have another drink or two with us." 

At some point, Debbie began coming to the Thursday evening dinner parties.

And, then, a little later, Debbie and I began going to Billy Mac's on other nights. We often sat at the bar. We began to see people regularly -- parents from Debbie's school, a local blues session guitar player, friends from St. Mary's Episcopal Church, people Debbie worked with at Temple Beth Israel, and friends from Lane Community College. 

I loved it. Conversation was awesome. The feeling of camaraderie built. 

My spirits rose. 

I felt whole.

Billy Mac's was much more than a bar and grill to me. It was a source of goodness, uplift, great vibes, and belonging. 

I loved it. 

 

In case you don't read the story I posted the link to, Billy Mac is the nickname for Billy Mac's owner and chef, Billy McCallum. He's sixty years old. He's been cooking and slinging great food in Eugene since 1977. Because he's dealing with congestive heart failure, his doctor recommended he ease up. So, he's retiring. 

Debbie and I had a great time this evening reminiscing about how much we loved Billy Mac's. 

We talked about our triangle of places we loved to wind down at: Billy Mac's, Cornucopia on 17th, and 16 Tons. We marveled at our good fortune that we discovered similar places near Greenbelt when we hung out at the Old Line Bistro (RIP) and D C Brau.

And, now, in Kellogg, we go to the Inland Lounge. It's a spiritual center. I think Radio Brewing is becoming one, too. 

2. This afternoon, Christy, Debbie, and I took our dogs, Riley and Gibbs, to Carol and Paul's to join Cleo and Sadie for a Snow Dog Christmas Party. We humans enjoyed cookies, nut and bolts, and Tom and Jerrys and the dogs got new toys and treats and got to imprint their paws on hunks of dough that will be baked and painted, resulting in a Christmas tree ornament. When Carol envisioned this party, I think she was hoping for better weather -- not the rain and wind and sleet and snow we had this afternoon. Because it was messy out, the dogs did not get to go out back with Paul and frolic in snow. 

They hung in there, though. 

Maybe they'll get another chance this winter to fit that frolicking in!

3. I really liked how my day began.

Because we'll be doing some winter traveling, we decided to put snow tires on the Camry and it was also time for an oil change.

I took the Camry down to Silver Valley Tire Center and two hours later they loaded the Camry's other tires into the Sube. I brought them home and stored them and returned to pick up the Camry with its fresh oil and new snow tires. 

What a relief to get this done! 

Winter travel here we come! 

Three Beautiful Things 12-22-2021: G League Action, John Fulkerson Was Tennessee's Starr Kelso, Hot Chocolate Bliss

 1. If you read this blog, even occasionally, you know that I love watching college basketball games. Every year, with the end of each season, players graduate or decide to leave college early and turn professional. The next season comes around and I miss some of those players.

Well, the past few days, the NBA's G League put on what's called the Winter Showcase, featuring teams from its development league playing in front of scouts and executives (no fans). The games were televised. The Winter Showcase winning team won 1,000 bucks. 

Several players I enjoyed watching during their college careers now play in the G League. I watched the Winter Showcase championship game today and especially enjoyed seeing Zavier Simpson (Michigan), Braxton Key (Virginia), and Rob Edwards (Arizona State) play. Braxton Key plays now for the Delaware Blue Coats and he was instrumental in leading his team to a 104-98 victory over Simpson and Edwards' Oklahoma City Blue squad.

These teams are not polished and the G League games can be ragged. Right now, teams in the NBA have quite a few players out because of positive Covid tests and so players from the G League are getting called up to replace them. The G League rosters are unstable. 

But, I enjoyed watching the action. These players exert a lot of effort and energy, working hard to impress the NBA brass that they are ready to move up to the Big Show. I think I'll continue to keep an eye on G League action as the basketball season continues.

2. I'd read a good story this morning over at theathletic.com (I subscribe) about Tennessee's blue chip freshman point guard, Kennedy Chandler. After the G League game ended, I tuned in to the Vol's game in Knoxville against the undefeated Arizona Wildcats. I was not expecting to see such a lopsided score when I caught up to that game, but Tennessee hammered Arizona early in the game and rode a late surge in first half's final minute or two and led 34-21 at halftime.

Arizona clawed back in the second half. They tied the game a couple of times, but could never quite secure a lead. For whatever reason, Kennedy Chandler had an ordinary game, but the Vol's got a superb performance from 24 year old sixth year super senior John Fulkerson who scored 24 points and snared 10 rebounds. 

After the game, Arizona Coach Tommy Lloyd remarked that Arizona's game plan was to make Fulkerson score lots of points -- and he did.

It reminded me of a winter 1970 game between the Kellogg Wildcats and the Wallace Miners. 

Our defensive game plan was to leave Starr Kelso (RIP) open, make him score a lot of points. Our coaching staff didn't think Kelso could hurt us as a scorer.

Well, like John Fulkerson tonight, Starr Kelso had a monster game that night. I wish I had the box score in front of me, but as I remember it, he score over 30 points and make a mockery of our game plan. Wallace creamed us that evening, payback after we had beaten them in Kellogg earlier in the season.

By the way, if my memory of that Wildcat loss to the Miners is warped after sitting in my head for almost 52 years, and if you, as a reader, have a clearer memory of Starr Kelso's performance, please feel free to correct me.

3. Today was a low key day. I ended it in low key fashion with two small cups of Ghirardelli hot chocolate, no booze in it. I didn't need a lot of relaxing before hitting the hay, but the hot chocolate moved me from relaxed to nearly comatose, making it easy and comfortable to fall into a restorative sleep with my nighttime companions Luna and Copper right beside me, also contented. 

Three Beautiful Things 12-21-2021 (the Debbie's birthday edition): We Have Real IDs, A Blast at Radio Brewing, A Little Party on Little Cameron

1. Today was Debbie's birthday. Today Debbie's driver license expired. Mine will expire next week on Monday. 

Therefore, we piled into the Sube and blasted east on I-90 to our county seat, Wallace, and stopped in at the Sheriff's Office not only to renew our licenses, but to secure a Real Idaho ID, also known as a Star Card.

I had misread the list of documents we needed, but, at the last minute before we left the house, I put our latest Wells Fargo statement in the folder with out passports and 1099 tax forms. It's a good thing I did. I thought I was overdoing it bringing that last document, but, no, we needed it.

As a result, everything went smoothly and, in a couple of weeks, our new cards should arrive in the mail.

2. After spiffing up the house a bit and after I made a Debbie's birthday stop at Yoke's and the liquor store, we piled back into the Sube and blasted uptown and sat down at a table at Radio Brewing.

As we walked in, we stopped at a table occupied by Kelton, Sara, Adam, Scott, and Becky. Becky! I hadn't seen Becky since early in 2020 (or maybe late 2019) and it was fun to see her and have a few minutes of chatter and laughs with some of the youth of the Silver Valley.

Niece Molly was working. A sudden deluge of people surged into Radio and Molly was the only server on duty. We marveled at how deftly and calmly she worked the room and were relieved, on her behalf, that at some point another employee stepped into the fray and eased her workload.

Debbie enjoyed some red wine and I ordered something I hadn't tried for years. I asked Molly to blend Oatmeal Stout with a small portion of apple cider. Radio's Oatmeal Stout tasted chocolate-y this afternoon and I loved how it paired in my glass with the apple flavor of the cider. For me, it was like drinking a chocolate apple cake or a chocolate chip apple cookie. 

Drinking this cider/stout blend took me back to a night I spent at McMenamins Edgefield over twenty years ago and spent an evening drinking Rubinators -- a blend of McMenamin's raspberry ale, called Ruby Ale and their terrific Terminator Stout. I was ecstatic that night. I loved being at Edgefield. I loved having memories of that night and those Rubinators suddenly occupy my mind. 

I also fondly remembered blending beers at 16 Tons under the expert guidance of both Em and Colin. They helped me enjoy innovative Black and Tans and introduced me to the idea of blending ale and cider. 

Beer.

It's a blast.

3. We ran into our down the street neighbors Tyler and Becca at the Depot last Friday and Debbie invited them to come over this evening and have a birthday cocktail or two (or more). We also invited Christy over and so we had a little neighborhood party.  Debbie finished making cranberry liqueur  a day or two ago and knew it would be fun to bust that out. Before our guests arrived, Debbie stepped into our Cocktail Laboratory (also known as the kitchen) and mixed cranberry liqueur, George Dickel  Rye Whiskey, fresh squeezed ogange juice and dashes of Peychauds bitter. She christened it the Solstice Awakening. 

Her cocktail was a hit. It turned out I was in the mood to drink rye whiskey straight, over ice, but I'll try a Soltice Awakening soon. 

We had an awesome party. Christy, Debbie, and I got to know Tyler and Becca a lot better. Debbie got out her guitar and sang a bit. We talked about music and singers and songwriters.  We talked about Silver Valley history, especially the Sunshine Mine Fire. It was an evening of high quality yakkin'. 

Christy had to leave the party a little bit early to make a phone call and Tyler and Becca partied with us until about 10 o'clock.

It was an awesome way to celebrate Debbie's birthday, enjoy the good vibes of living on Little Cameron, and marvel at two of Debbie's many talents as she combined mixology with playing her stellar song, "Going the Distance".  

By the way, you can also listen to this song and others on Debbie's first album by going to Debbie's Going the Distance bandcamp page, here. 

Three Beautiful Things 12-20-2021: Snowfall Aerobics, Watching Gonzaga Empty Its Bench, 3BTs and Huckleberries at CdA Press

 1.  A  moderate, not quite heavy, amount of snow fell in Kellogg today. I shoveled twice (or was it three times?). Shoveling snow before it gets very deep is turning out to be a good thing. I spare strain on my back by shoveling while it's not very deep and I increase my heart rate and, I think, build up my wind. 

2. Gonzaga's victory over Northern Arizona, 95-49, lacked suspense so it's a wonder I stuck with it. I figured, though, that since the game was a blowout, Coach Mark Few might empty his bench in the last several minutes and I could see some Zags play who rarely get any action. I was right. I had fun watching Ben Gregg, (Shoeless) Kaden Perry, Martynas Arlauskus, Matthew Lang, and others get a chance to run the offense, hoist a shot or two, and be a part of the flow of this mismatch.

3. D. F. (Dave) Oliveria emailed me. He'd like to write more about Three Beautiful Things/kellogg bloggin' in his Huckleberries column over at the Coeur d'Alene Press. He asked if he could call me with some questions on Dec. 21, but that's Debbie's birthday and we have a busy day planned.  I asked if, instead, I could email him responses to questions regarding the origins of Three Beautiful Things, how long I've been at it, what my purpose is, and about my Silver Valley background. He said, "Sure". He sent me questions and the first thing I'll do on the morning of Dec 21st is write out answers as best I can. 

Three Beautiful Things 12-19-2021: An Afternoon of Dark Beers, Warm Marinated Olives, Smashing Family Dinner

1. Once I shoveled today's shallow but wet snowfall, the day was slow. I decided to slowly work my way through some dark beers still remaining in the icebox. 

I began with Georgetown's very tasty Nine Pound Porter, a great beer with assertive chocolate flavor. I loved its generous level of  toasted barley and how its Chinook and Summit hops balanced out any chance this porter might be too sweet. 

Having finished the Nine Pound, I plucked Icicle Brewing's Dark Persuasion Ale from the shelf. Technically, it's not a porter or a stout, but (in a way similar to Iron Horse's Irish Death) is a dark ale brewed to taste like a German Chocolate Cake. And Dark Persuasion does! I could taste not only the cacao nibs, but the coconut, and, to Icicle's credit, its chocolate coconut flavors were not cloying, but offset by the beer's excellent hop profile.

Debbie and I ended this afternoon's dive into dark beers by sharing a Narwhal, Sierra Nevada's splendid Imperial Stout. Its a velvety stout combining cocoa and espresso richness with a very sturdy malt foundation. 

I drank these beers patiently, letting each of them warm up as I slowly made my way through each pour. Alas, our dark beer stash is now gone. 

Time to replenish!

2. I popped open jars of Kalamata and green olives, drained their brine, put the olives in a bowl, and added orange zest, fennel seeds, fresh thyme, crushed garlic cloves, and olive oil. I combined all of this and, using our Dutch oven, heated up the olives until the oil sizzled and then turned down the heat and let the garlic and olives slowly become warm. The dish is called Warm Marinated Olives -- it's here. It's one of Ina Garten's recipes and it served as our appetizer for family dinner. 

3. Family dinner was awesome at Christy's house tonight. We opened with a wintry bourbon, cranberry, lemon, and orange cocktail. Our main course featured Christy's incredible Friendsgiving casserole courtesy of Joanna Gaines (recipe here), a superb combination of chicken and a variety of Thanksgiving dinner flavors all working together in a single dish. Carol brought a perfectly dressed spinach salad and Debbie baked us each a yam served with real maple syrup infused butter. 

We were all beside ourselves with enjoyment as we ate this dinner together and the pleasure continued when Christy brought out a plate of peppermint bark. She also mixed me a quick egg nog and peppermint vodka after dinner drink (in lieu of the candy!). 

Three Beautiful Things 12-18-2021: Solid Win for Gonzaga, Reassuring Luna and Copper, Saving the Porter at Christy's

1. I shoveled snow this morning in time to plant myself in front of the Vizio and watch Gonzaga play the bruising, defensive-minded Texas Tech Red Raiders in Phoenix, AZ. I love watching Gonzaga playing the stiffest competition possible. That the Red Raiders' best player, Terrence Shannon, couldn't play today because of back spasms was a disappointment. 

The Red Raiders' employ a defensive strategy known as the "No Middle Defense". They work to deny their opponents' efforts to get the ball in the key (the paint) and want to force ball handlers to the sidelines and the baseline. In part, the Red Raiders' defense succeeded today. In the paint, Texas Tech crowded and collapsed on the Zags' leading scorer, Drew Timme, the entire game. He attempted only four shots, made two of them, and only scored seven points. 

Fortunately, for Gonzaga, they compensated for Timme getting shut down in some very productive ways. They'd been struggling with turnovers and only had ten in this game, a great improvement over their last four games. The Zags also shot over 40% from behind the three point line. Rasir Bolton got hot in the first half and Andrew Nembhard snapped out of a shooting slump in the second half and, together, they offset the Red Raiders' "No Middle Defense". 

I thought the Zags also got solid play from their bench. Freshman starter Chet Holmgren struggled with foul trouble. He only played 24 minutes. Oh! Those 24 minutes were productive. He snagged eleven rebounds, blocked two shots, and his tall and long presence on defense adversely affected any number of Red Raider shots. When Holmgren had to ride the pine, Anton Watson replaced him most admirably with his defensive strength and quick hands (two steals) and offensive savvy. Today he scored 10 points, including a surprise splash from the corner from beyond the arc at a juncture in the game when Texas Tech had narrowed Gonzaga's double digit lead to two points. Watson's trey was huge as Gonzaga stopped Texas Tech's run and went on an impressive 14-2 run, essentially sealing their eventual 69-55 victory. 

I thought it was a good win for Gonzaga. I continue to be very interested in how this team will develop and possibly improve as the season moves into January.

2. I really don't know what matters to Luna and Copper. I probably project a lot of my human feelings on to them. That said, I continue to think that having my company while they are either in the bedroom or the Vizio room is good for them. For nearly the whole time that I watched Gonzaga defeat Texas Tech and watched Providence defeat UConn, Luna sat on my lap or crawled up my chest, purring, sometimes licking me, sometimes lightly biting my hand. She seemed content.

Later, after a second round of snow shoveling, I went into the bedroom and lay down with Copper. Copper never climbs on me, but sometimes will position himself within my reach so I can pet him. Today, I could feel myself falling asleep and reached out and put my hand on Copper's back and maintained motionless contact with him throughout my nap.

Did my hand help Copper feel more secure? Was this physical connection important to him? I like to think it was and I'd like to think times like this between me and Copper have contributed to his acting more at ease day to day.

I do not, however, really know.

3. Christy invited Debbie and me over to her house for cocktails and conversation this evening. I seized upon this opportunity to SAVE THE PORTER and took over a bottle of Founder's Robust Porter. The brewery describe it as a cozy beer and I like that. It was well-balanced, easy to drink and enjoy. I finished this beer and determined that our conversations about everything from dental and medical care to housecleaning to nailing down our holiday plans was going to extend beyond one porter, so I came over to our house and grabbed a can of Laughing Dog's Pecan Imperial Porter out of the fridge. This porter was not subtle. The pecan flavoring was front and center. It was like drinking a pecan chocolate pie. I enjoyed it, especially as a last beer for the night, a dessert. 

Three Beautiful Things 12-17-2021: I Got Published in Huckleberries!, The New Depot Bar, Uptown for Burgers and The Lounge

1. Back in October of 2006, I decided to start writing a blog. Once I started posting, I also scanned the World Wide Web for other blogs and almost immediately discovered Huckleberries Online, a blog at the Spokesman Review and spearheaded by D. F. (Dave) Oliveria, also known as DFO.

Facebook hadn't really taken off yet, if I remember correctly, and blogs were popular, fun, and numerous. 

Before long, I introduced my blog to DFO and, back then, he posted passages from people's blogs or posted links to things we bloggers were writing, especially when our content reflected on life in the Inland Northwest. He featured posts I wrote from time to time and frequently posted a link to my blog.

Well, the other day DFO messaged me. He'd seen my 3BTs post about enjoying driving in CdA -- it was, by the way, serious -- I don't write sarcasm or facetious things on my blog (yes, it's true -- I enjoy it when Costco is crowded!).  

In his retirement, DFO now writes a Huckleberries column once a week for the CdA Press and he asked me if he could publish some of what I'd written about driving in CdA. It was like old times and I happily consented. 

So, here's what appeared on Friday, December 17 in DFO's column:

Kellogg native Bill Woolum doesn’t agree that Coeur d’Alene traffic is as bad as you and I think it is. And it has little to do with his time living in Eugene, Ore., and a Washington, D.C., suburb. It has everything to do with the intersection at Hanley Avenue and Government Way. Bill and wife, Debbie, were on the way to Michael’s on Monday when the traffic lights went out. “I loved that every single driver knew what to do,” Bill posted on his Kellogg Bloggin’ site. “Calmly, we all switched our thinking and treated the intersection as a four-way stop. No honking. No impatience. Nothing crazy.” A Christmas miracle?

Hey! That was fun. It was also great to be in touch again with Dave Oliveria. 

2.  Debbie, Diane T., and Linda L. and I had a hot time in the old town tonight -- well, late this afternoon and early evening. 

We started by having a drink at The Depot, formerly known as the Hill Street Depot. I hadn't been in The Depot for about two years, thanks to the pandemic and because The Depot was closed for a while for remodeling. The remodeled Depot no longer has a kitchen. It's a cozy bar. The atmosphere this afternoon was friendly, people in small knots of conversation and laughter. I enjoyed it a lot.

The Depot is open Wed-Sunday from 3-8 and I'd like to drop in there more often.

3.  Next stop: the Kellogg Elks Club for Friday night burgers. Those burgers are perfect for me. They are just the right size, not too big, and taste fresh. We saw other people at the Elks -- Jake and Carol Lee were in the house and so were Tim and Cindy. In fact, Cindy alerted me to the fact that DFO did, indeed, include my CdA driving story in his Huckleberries column. 

We ended our hot time on on the old town at The Inland Lounge. 

We joined Jake, Carol Lee, Tim, Cindy, Eileen, and DJ at a table and enjoyed the good vibes in The Lounge. It was a mellow evening. It's possible the cold temperatures and snow-packed streets kept people home -- hard to say. But size doesn't matter at The Lounge. We were in the company of cheerful people and had a great time. 

Three Beautiful Things 12-16-2021: Tuesday's Tree House Concert, Snowfall in Kellogg, Back to the *1977* Podcast

 1. I have a 3BT makeup to write. 

I think it was on Monday.  Bill Davie posted on Facebook that he was going to perform, almost out of the blue, a Treehouse Concert on Tuesday, on December 14th. 

Bill's been on a hiatus from performing. He took time away to focus on writing, hoping some new songs would arise within him, and on continuing to seek relief from the chronic pain he suffers in his back.

On Monday (I think), though, he picked up his guitar (named Woody) and playing his guitar felt really good and pretty much on the spur of the moment, he announced that he'd be live on Facebook on Tuesday.

I jumped on his livestream and Bill looked stoked. He was happy that he had a set of songs ready to go, but even more, he was happy to have so many virtual listeners, many of us longtime friends, back in the Tree House. 

Bill got underway with one of his classic tunes, "Learn to Say Goodbye" and played a stirring set of everyone's favorites, including "The Only Magic I Know", "The Lone Ranger in the Moon" and others. He read inventive and unsettling poetry by Gregory Orr. 

When will Bill return with his next Tree House concert? 

That is unknown.

Performing on Tuesday evening was definitely a jolt of joy for Bill. 

It's not clear at all, though, how often he can go to this well.

2. Snow fell most of the day today in Kellogg. I'm glad I didn't have anywhere to go on I-90 where a semi jackknifed and cars slid off the road, bringing traffic to a standstill at times. 

All I had to do was shovel snow. Three times? Four times? I'm not sure. I do know this: by shoveling more frequently, I save myself and my back from the strain of shoveling deeper snow

3.  I went to bed earlier than usual and listened to Episode 4 of Slate's podcast, One Year: 1977. 

This episode move in three directions, dealing with three stories that broke on August 16, 1977.

First, it covered the media nuttiness that broke out when Elvis Presley died, with special focus on The National Enquirer's mission to obtain a photograph of Presley in his open casket at Graceland. In case you've forgotten, the Enquirer was successful.

Second, it was on August 16, 1977 that a Federal District Court ruled in 16 year old Deborah Lipp's favor that a New Jersey law compelling her to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance in her public school classroom was unconstitutional. For refusing to get up from her desk and stand for the Pledge, Deborah Lipp was harassed, threatened, bullyragged, and demeaned. This part of Episode 4 features Deborah Lipp as a 60 year old looking back on all the torment she endured for asserting what she saw as an assertio of her right to free speech.

The third part of this episode looked at how on August 16, 1977, astronomers in Ohio received a signal that just possibly was sent by intelligent life in another part of the universe. Verifying that it came from extraterrestrials was impossible, but in a year that brought both Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind to our nation's movie screens, the story was a compelling one. Those interviewed in 2021, looking back on this momentous occasion in 1977, were fascinating as they addressed the question of whether intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe and, if it does, what that 1977 signal to Earth might have been trying to communicate to us. 

Three Beautiful Things 12-15-2021: Light in a Darkening Time, Handwritten, Luna and Copper Update

 1. Our Christmas tree is up and decorated. Debbie Illuminated the tree with purple lights and festooned it with candy canes, ornaments she made here at home, and a Christmas card. Don't expect to see our tree featured on a Hallmark advertisement, but, if you were in our living room, you could expect it to bring light to this ever darkening time of year. I like that.

2. At Saturday's Celebration of Life memorializing Ron Frase, I learned that Ron Frase was an avid letter writer. I don't know if I'll ever be an avid letter writer, but today I followed Ron Frase's example and penned a card and a letter and I have more in mind to compose.

3. I don't know if, in their younger days, Copper and Luna liked to run around the house, pull down ornaments off of a Christmas tree, play Bowl-a-Rama in the middle of the night, or be hyperactive in any way. Well, if they did, those days are gone. They are older cats now and spend most of their time resting and sleeping. This is good since they can't be in the living room with Gibbs -- Gibbs upsets them by hassling them, barking at them to play -- and spent much of the day in either the bedroom or Vizio room. I spend time with them during the day and they are calm and secure. Copper, especially, seems to feel more secure these days than in the past. 

When Debbie and Gibbs go upstairs at night, we open the bedroom and the Vizio room doors and Copper and Luna are free to sashay around the house. Sometimes Copper likes to lie under an end table, a place he enjoyed during the day before Gibbs joined us. Luna goes back and forth between a little bit of roaming and positioning herself near my neck in bed.  Luna wakes me up for wet food, sometimes at 3 a.m., sometimes 4, sometimes 5. Both Copper and Luna seem to enjoy having this early morning feeding in the kitchen. 

There's a pretty good balance at work with Gibbs, Copper, and Luna. Gibbs is young, more rambunctious, and can exercise his youth during the day in the living room. Fortunately, Luna and Copper are not rambunctious and instead of spending time lounging and sleeping on chairs or on the rug in the living room, they lounge and sleep on the bed, in my closet, or on a chair or on the rug in the Vizio room.

It's working out. 

Three Beautiful Things 12-14-2021: Haircut and Hair-Raising Stories, Lots of People and Lots of Fun at Costco, Paragon Beers and a Burger with Byrdman

 1.  I blasted over the clear, bare Fourth of July Pass today and completed my two days in row travel package to Coeur d'Alene. Robin cut my hair at Supercuts. Robin lives in Pinehurst -- she also grew up there -- and she told me some pretty hairy stories about her winter commute to and from CdA over the years. Not only that, Robin gave me a good looking haircut and did it efficiently.

2. I then had a great time at Costco where I picked up a few things. I enjoy walking the aisles at Costco, especially if quite a few people are there. I enjoy smiling at people and imagining what they are going to do with the stuff in their carts. Today, I imagined Christmas parties, restaurants full of people being served (I think I saw a guy from Capone's buying stuff for their eateries), church dinners, and holiday celebrations in people's homes. My enjoyment was similar to driving in CdA. Yes, a lot of people were out, but they were just doing their different things, no nastiness, no crazy behavior, no real signs of impatience, and I liked being in the company of my fellow humans, on the road and in the store.

3. After I left Costco, Byrdman and I met at Paragon. I love Paragon, especially in the early afternoon. It's a quiet time. I yakked with the woman who owns the place about their beer. It was easy to have conversation with Byrdman and with a couple or three people sitting at the bar with us. Byrdman and I hadn't had a chance to discuss this year's awesome college basketball season in person yet, and we engaged in a comprehensive rundown of teams, players, and surprising games. We agreed that we don't know what to expect when January rolls around and teams enter into the teeth of conference play. I'd say we will simply expect the unexpected.

In the last year or two, Paragon began brewing their own beer and I hadn't been there since their tap list was almost exclusively brewed on site. They had one guest tap.

I decided to continue my efforts to SAVE THE PORTER and drank a pint of East Portal Porter. It was the mildest porter I've drunk in, well, in decades -- since 1979, the last time I drank Porter in England.  East Portal Porter is an English style porter, with a thinner mouthfeel and less aggressive flavors. Its abv was also moderate and, if I'd been close to home, I could have imagined quaffing a bunch of these mild porters and had myself a real SAVE THE PORTER session.

I didn't do that because I love Paragon's English style IPA, the mild and biscuit-y Idabow IPA. I'd drunk a couple or three of these a while back at Outpost in CdA and was very happy that it's a regular offering at Paragon. I ordered a Pubburger and fries and enjoyed a pint and a half of Idabow and, to my dismay, decided I needed to end this awesome session with Byrdman.

I had a stop to make at Pilgrim's and I wanted to arrive home either before dark or not long after.

I succeeded. 

Three Beautiful Things 12-13-2021: I Enjoy Driving in CdA, Oh Tannenbaum, Family Dinner Heroism

 1. Debbie and I made a quick trip to Coeur d'Alene. While she got a haircut, I enjoyed driving around Coeur d'Alene. I filled the Sube with gas at Costco, bought a Christmas tree stand at Lowe's, and ordered a buttery cinnamon cookie and a latte at Bear Paw Cookies at Riverstone, near the salon. Debbie joined me. I shared my cookie. Debbie asked me to drive her out to Michael's and I gladly agreed. 

At the intersection of Hanley and Government Way, the traffic light was busted. The intersection was busting at its seams with traffic.

I loved that every single driver knew what to do. Calmly we all switched our thinking and treated the intersection as a four-way stop. No honking. No impatience. Nothing crazy. I had to make a left hand turn and when it was my turn to go, I waved a thank you to all the other cars, grateful that we were all cooperating, not allowing the potential chaos that could have broken out to happen. 

2. Back home, Debbie and I worked together and put up our Christmas tree. We tried to remember when we last put a tree up together and Debbie thinks it was eleven or twelve years ago in Eugene. I couldn't remember one way or another, but that sounded about right.

3. Tonight our family gathered at Carol and Paul's for dinner together. We started the evening with crackers and a bleu cheese spread that Carol made accompanied by Paul's mulled wine. For dinner, Carol cooked up an awesome beef stroganoff over egg noodles, I brought green beans with lemon butter and slivered almonds, and Debbie contributed a marinated cauliflower salad. Christy baked a superb (meatless) mince meat pie featuring pears and apples and a superb crust. 

I had fun pretend bragging like I had done a heroic thing by enjoying driving in CdA because it's common in the Silver Valley for people to complain about how crazy it is driving there. I also pretended like my left hand turn with the traffic lights not working was heroic as well as was the fact that I went to Lowe's and overcame the least helpful customer service person in the entire Lowe's corporation  and found a Christmas tree stand! 

I hope no one thought I was being serious as I repeated this joke about the "heroic" things I did today. 

I mean, I did enjoy driving around CdA, but it was hardly a heroic deed! 

Three Beautiful Things 12-12-2021: Baylor Paralyzes Villanova, ZOOM Time in the Westminster Basement, Pasta and Pesto

 1.  I don't know the coaching assignments for the Baylor Bears' men's basketball team, but someone on that staff, along with the head coach, Scott Drew, has earned the total commitment of this team to playing suffocating, paralyzing defense. You might remember Baylor's defensive effort last April when the Bears defeated the Zags in the NCAA Championship game. I thought back then that Baylor's defense discombobulated Gonzaga, broke their spirit, made a usually quick and crisp team look slow and tentative. 

Four players left that championship Baylor team, but against Villanova today, this year's version of the Baylor Bears looked equally, maybe even more, devastating on defense. Villanova simply could not get an open shot. If they did, they rushed it and missed shots from distance as well as right at the tin. At times, as Villanova tried and tried to find any breathing room on offense, I thought they looked like they were playing underwater. They looked overwhelmed, unsure of how to attack Baylor, and, as a result, Villanova got clobbered, 57-36, the first time since 1979 that a Villanova team failed to score 40 points. 

2. Today the Westminster Study Group met on the Zoom machine and we had a superb turnout: Bill, Diane, Val, Colette, Bridgit, and I were all present.

We talked about a wide variety of topics, ranging from copyright laws, extending comfort to those suffering from illness and pain, the chill of virtue in some "it's God's will" Christians when they minister to suffering with bromides and bloodless reassurances, reassurances that it's in God's hands, and other topics, including how Val and Colette's graduate studies are progressing. 

3. This afternoon Debbie made a superb pesto and when our group's Zoom time was over, Debbie told me she'd boiled pasta and the pasta and pesto was so damn good that I ate two big bowls of it and if we'd had some kind of Olive Garden-like bottomless pasta bowl in our house, I would have eaten pasta and pesto by the handfuls, stopping only when I inevitably fell into a pasta/pesto induced coma. 

Three Beautiful Things 12-11-2021: Driving to Spokane, Attending Ron Frase's Celebration of Life, Winding Down Back Home

1. I'm in my late sixties. I lived for many many years in Eugene, OR and didn't have to drive on snowy roads very often. Likewise, I didn't drive on many wintry roads when living in Greenbelt, Maryland.

So, now, living back in North Idaho, I'm much more cautious about driving in wintry conditions than I was back in my late teens and 20s and I am much less brash about my winter driving skills.

So, this morning, being right in the middle of a three day winter storm advisory, I was unsure whether I would drive out to Whitworth University to attend the celebration of Dr. Rev. Prof. Ron Frase's life.

I decided to go. 

Most of the precipitation in the valley was rain. Winds gusted. About half way up the 4th of July Pass heavy snow fell. The state required truckers to chain up. So, I joined the other drivers on the pass in a steady crawl over the top of the pass. All of us were traveling at about the same speed. No one got crazy. It worked out well. 

About half way down the pass, the snowfall turned into rain and, for the rest of my drive, the roads were wet. Wind gusted. The driving conditions were benign and I arrived at Whitworth about twenty minutes ahead of the today's service in the Whitworth Chapel. 

2. I didn't have a personal relationship with Ron Frase. Nonetheless, Ron Frase loomed large in my life while I was a student and an instructor at Whitworth and in the years that followed. He loomed large as an exemplar of the life of a Christian scholar who took his learning into the world and lived a life of letters and ministry on behalf of those living in poverty and oppression. After I left Spokane and Whitworth in 1984, Ron Frase never left me. Repeatedly over the years, whether in conversation and correspondence with fellow Whitworthian Deborah Gridley or in my friendship with Jeff Steve and Deb Akers or as I roam around Facebook and read testimonies by Ron's peers, his past students, or by participants in Central American tours, Ron Frase's legacy consistently comes up: his drive to resist injustice coupled with his passion on behalf of justice, his generous hospitality, and his encouraging counsel. He looms large. Over the years, in my mind, heart, and soul, Ron Frase has epitomized what I most loved (and love) about my years at Whitworth and the way my experience there has shaped my life.

All of that and more stirred within me during and after yesterday's service. For me, being back in the chapel, listening to  Rev. Scott Starbuck and Drs. Michael Le Roy and Michael Barram, all Whitworth alums, eulogize Ron not only deepened my respect for Ron Frase and helped me understand his life more fully, the experience also became (for me) a celebration of Whitworth. During the service and as I drove home and as I had some time alone in the house, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. People came to mind.  I relived some painful feelings I wish I didn't have, but I can't get around the fact that those two years (1982-84) when I taught full time at Whitworth were painful years. Divorce and eventual annulment left me lost, confused, and aggrieved. I'm ashamed of many of the ways I behaved (but, overall, proud of the work I did).  But, there were steadying influences. Even though we rarely conversed, Ron was one of them, just by his presence and with the vitality he brought to his work as Whitworth's chaplain. The service's slide show showed Ron in pictures with other steadying influences: Jim and Linda Hunt, Phil Eaton, Lorraine Robertson, Don Liebert, Dick Ferrin, Bruce Murphy and others. I doubt they know how torn up I was nor would they know how much I leaned on their presence -- and sometimes our work together -- in my efforts to find some equilibrium. 

During the service, an attendee had a seizure. Friends called 911. Paramedics arrived. The service stopped. The reception got underway with an understanding that the service would resume a bit later, followed by a more informal time in the sanctuary when Ron's brother, Wayne,  Jim and Linda Hunt, and Rev. Susan Schilperoort would speak and Rev. Pamela Starbuck would read a message from Dr. Edward Miller. 

It's December.

The days are short.

North Idaho and Eastern Washington are under a three day winter storm advisory.

If it was stormy on the 4th of July Pass in the afternoon, I wanted to drive over the pass in daylight.

So, exercising an abundance of caution, I left during the service's stoppage. 

Pragmatically, I made the right decision.

The service was recorded on YouTube (here). 

I can jump online and experience what I missed.

Leaving when I did meant that I didn't talk to anyone at the service and that I'm not really sure who was there that I knew. I saw Jim and Linda Hunt from afar, but didn't see anyone else, largely because of the limited view I had from where I sat in the chapel.

It turned out that I traveled back to Kellogg at an opportune time. Snowfall did not return. The roads were wet, but easy to drive on. 

I returned home safely with my head and heart full of thoughts and feelings about Ron Frase, Whitworth University, and the many superb people I've known over the years thanks to having attended and worked there. 

3.  Back home, my head was a abuzz and my heart was bursting with thoughts and memories about my studies and work at Whitworth and the many many people to whom I owe  much gratitude.

I ate chicken soup and dumplings Debbie made.

I watched a bruising and tight basketball game between Houston and Alabama (Alabama prevailed, 83-82). 

After the game, Debbie and I wound down together. 

We talked about the differing demographics of Eugene, Greenbelt, and North Idaho as a way of looking at the variety in the places we've lived. The differences are fascinating. They've kept our life together challenging and stimulating and helped us be more and more accepting of the different ways people see the world and live their lives. 

Three Beautiful Things 12-10-2021: Doughnut Reward, Being Ed's Right Hand Man!, The Lounge and Neil Young

1. I hopped out of bed first thing this morning and shoveled snow, took the not-winter tires out of the Sube and put them in the garage, and hustled over to Yoke's to buy coffee filters and some club soda. For my efforts, I rewarded myself with two raised doughnuts -- one with chocolate frosting and the other a sugar doughnut. I used to eat way too many doughnuts when I taught at LCC. Now I rarely eat them. When I do, though, they sure give me pleasure and bring back some Eugene/LCC memories I love going back to.

2. Ed swung by the house at 4:30 with his back seat full of barbecue food and sides from GarrenTeed BBQ, the food truck/trailer located on Hill St. and Bunker Ave in Kellogg.  As a favor to his son-in-law, Garren Taylor (the food truck's proprietor), Ed was delivering food to a party out on West Lancaster just off of Highway 95, north of Hayden. 

Ed asked me to help him, both for a little muscle and for navigation. 

I helped him find our destination and helped Ed and the hosts of the dinner party carry in the food and set it up.

We headed right back to Kellogg, wanting to stay ahead of a wind and snow storm moving in.

We succeeded.

3. I returned home, fed Luna and Copper, and dashed up to The Lounge and met back up with Ed. For me, it was a short stay at The Lounge. I helped SAVE THE PORTER by drinking a couple of slow pints of Pulaski Porter, drank some club soda, reconnected with Debbie -- who had been with Diane at Radio -- and went home for some chowder and crackers. I told Debbie I'd come back uptown and give Diane and her a ride home and I did so. Debbie and Diane had, in their words, "a fantastic time" at The Lounge. I tidied up the kitchen, enjoyed having Gibbs sit on my lap, and listened to this weekend's Neil Young Radio on Sirius/XM's Deep Tracks channel. 

Three Beautiful Things 12-09-2021: People Love Debbie's Music, Annual Medicare Exam, Making Shrimp Chowder

 1. One of the really fun results of Debbie's Bandcamp page going up has been seeing Debbie getting notes and comments from people expressing their love of her music, her honesty, and her talent. Some people from deep in Debbie's past have reached out to her, as well as people she (and we) are current with today. If you are curious and would like to listen to some songs, Debbie's Bandcamp page is right here. 

2.  I met David Hanson, PA, for the first time today when I completed my annual Medicare Wellness Exam. He's an engaged, energetic, dedicated professional. I enjoyed our conversations and was very happy that, on the one hand, he recognized that I live with slowly failing kidneys, and on the other hand, he determined that my overall health is very good. My EKG results were strong. My heart and lungs sounded good. My ankles and lower legs are not swelling. My blood pressure was about perfect. All that remains to complete this exam is some blood work and David Hanson had no problem having me wait until February to have it done so that it coincides with the bloodwork I have done every three weeks for Dr. Bieber, my kidney doctor. 

I left the clinic very happy. It was a bit after 2:00 and I hadn't done my part for several days to SAVE THE PORTER, so I slid into Radio Brewing and enjoyed a pint. I stayed with dark ale and capped off my short visit with a 10 oz pour of Oatmeal Stout, a smooth and pleasing way to relax after being examined, my relaxation enhanced by the Blink 182 station playing on Pandora over the house music system. 

I returned home full of 1990s music and later in the evening played one of my favorite songs from nearly thirty years ago: Luna's "California (All the Way)".  I wish right now some of my students from years ago were reading that I played that song today and that they, like me, would recall the fun we had watching the short film Family Tree in class. It featured Luna's song and was a fun part of my WR 121 syllabus for a time.

3. I have several quarts of stock I've made over the last few years from Elks Crab Feed shells in the basement freezer and I brought a couple upstairs this morning to thaw. Later this afternoon, I made chowder, guided by my no recipes recipe book. I chopped up and salted and peppered yellow onion, red potato, and carrots and sautéed them with some smoked paprika in a generous barely bubbling pool of  melted butter. Once the onion was translucent, I covered it with crab stock, brought it to a barely bubbling boil and let it simmer for a while until the potatoes and carrots were tender. I then added a few splashes of heavy whipping cream and some pieces of shrimp, let it heat up a bit more, and, presto!, Debbie and I had a really delicious chowder made without a recipe, but with some general guidance regarding how to go about cooking it. 

Within myself, I uttered a word or two of thanks to Harley and Candy for all of their work making the Elks Crab Feed happen annually and for letting me leave the Crab Feed with bags of shells. The stock I make from these shells is liquid gold (as far as I'm concerned!). 

Three Beautiful Things 12-08-2021: Debbie's CDs are Online!, Snow Tires, Laetrile and Covid

NEWSFLASH: Debbie's cds are online. If you'd like to hear them, go click here and go to her Bandcamp page. Going the Distance and Ninety Miles Out feature songs Debbie wrote. 

If you have children in your life, Come and Go With Me is Debbie's album of songs for children, all traditional folk songs. 

1.  Earlier this year, I uploaded Debbie's cds and got started creating a bandcamp.com site for her, but I reached a point where I needed Debbie's input to finish it up.

The project has been on hold for a while, but today Debbie and I buckled down and finished it! 

Debbie's two original cds and her cd of traditional folk music for children are all available for limited free listening and for purchase. 

If you'd like to visit Debbie's site, just click here. 

2. I'm feeling pretty frisky about the Sube. Today, the guys over at Silver Valley Tires put the snow tires on it. 

3. If you don't remember the late 1970s controversy over the cancer drug Laetrile, you can listen to the 4th episode of the podcast series, One Year: 1977 and hear the story. The episode focuses on Chad Green, known back then as Laetrile Boy and his parents' legal struggles to treat his leukemia as they saw fit and not have him treated with chemotherapy. 

If you listen to this episode, you'll immediately see the through line connecting the Greens' story to current controversies rising out today's arguments about making one's own decision about masks and vaccines during the Covid pandemic. 

The episode confirmed for me that history doesn't so much repeat itself as it's a way of seeing continuity. 

If you'd like to listen to this episode, you can! Just click here. 

Three Beautiful Things 12-07-2021: Lunch at the Hilltop, A ClangFest in NYC, Villanova Bests Syracuse BONUS: A Limerick by Stu

1. Carrie Parks, as one of the organizers of this past summer's 50th class reunion for the classes of 1970 and 1971, has materials and records of how she and Mary Chase and Linda Lavigne went about putting on that weekend party. Stu arranged for her and Diane Trecker to go over that stuff at Kingston's Hilltop Inn and Stu, Ed, and I joined them for lunch. While Carrie and Diane talked business, Ed, Stu, and I yakked about stuff and I enjoyed my deluxe burger with fries and some cold Budweiser beer. After a bit, we were all talking together and had the pleasure of a fun lunch as well as a productive one.

2. I was interested this afternoon in watching Tennessee play Texas Tech, in part because Texas Tech and Gonzaga play on December 18th and in part because Texas Tech has had complete turnover in their program: a bunch of new players and a new head coach. I was also interested in seeing Kennedy Chandler, a prize recruit for Tennessee play. 

This game was the type that always confuses me. Texas Tech plays a disruptive, aggressive defense. Did Tennessee shoot so poorly because of Tech's defense? Were the Volunteers discombobulated? And why did Texas Tech also shoot so poorly? It was as if poor shooting were contagious. Watching these two teams shoot clangers, bricks, and air balls was painful, almost unbearable.

Then, to top it off, this nearly unwatchable game went into overtime and Texas Tech prevailed, 57-52. I saw flashes of Kennedy Chandler's talent, but mostly Texas Tech kept him quiet. I wondered, throughout the game, how Gonzaga will respond to Texas Tech's relentless defense and if the Zags do a better job of scoring against it than Tennessee did. They will almost have to

3.  The Tennessee/Texas Tech clunker was the first game of this year's men's Jimmy V Classic, a basketball doubleheader played at Madison Square Garden (the women's Jimmy V Classic will be played on Sunday). 

The second game matched Villanova and Syracuse, two teams who had a long rivalry when they were both members of the Big East conference. 

The two teams hadn't played each other for seven years and it was high time they resumed their old grudge match. 

I wondered, as Villanova's shooters were cold in the first half, how much their futility had to do with Syracuse's 2-3 matchup zone defense and how much had to do with Villanova just being off. 

Syracuse was off, too, especially Buddy Boheim, but his brother, Jimmy, wasn't off at all and had a solid game.

In the second half, Villanova not only moved and shot the ball better, they fiercely rebounded missed shots on both ends of the floor, denying Syracuse second or third shots after a miss and getting a ton of second and third shots themselves on their end.

In the end, the rebounding made a huge difference, as did Villanova's improved shooting and the Wildcats defeated Syracuse, 67-53.

I know that television and newspaper story lines often revolve around freshman talent in college basketball, around what newcomers are going to excel. I often enjoy these energetic freshmen, but I enjoy watching players who are seniors, players I've watched develop over the years, players who have matured into their roles and have an aura of calm in tight games and big moments.

Villanova and Syracuse both have several seniors on their rosters and some well-seasoned juniors. Tonight I enjoyed watching veterans Collin Gillespie, Jermaine Samuels, and Justin Moore settle down, make big plays on both ends of the floor, and provide the steadying influence of their maturity. Likewise, I enjoyed watching Syracuse upperclassmen the Boeheim brothers and Joe Girard, even though Buddy Boeheim had an off game. 

I don't begrudge talented youngsters leaving their college teams after a year or two and becoming professionals. I do, however, enjoy it a lot when players like Gillespie and Samuels, the Boeheim brothers, and, a couple of years ago, Payton Pritchard at Oregon play out the entirety of their eligibility and we get to seem them play some of their best basketball as seasoned, tested, and mature players.

A limerick by Stu:

This fellow’s a part of “the club”! 

Died too young is a part of the rub. 

Had some number 1 hits, 

Gave policemen some fits. 

Passed away one sad night in his tub. 

Jim Morrison born on this date, December 8, 1943

Three Beautiful Things 12-06-2021: Shoveling Snow, 1977 White Sox, Family Dinner Resumes

1. Snow arrived today. I am lousy at measuring snowfall by sight, but I think we got a few inches -- enough to shovel. I'm a frequent shoveler. Being an old man with an iffy back, it's best for me to shovel small amounts frequently rather than let wait for a break in the snowfall and shovel once or twice. I think I shoveled three times today (but who's counting?). The best part of it, even beyond keeping the sidewalks clear, was the exercise. 

2. Debbie was out for coffee and ran an errand or two this morning. I finished shoveling for the first time and returned to the slate.com podcast, One Year: 1977.  I loved going back to the wild 1977 baseball season of the Chicago White Sox and remembering being home in Kellogg on occasion and watching that team on cable television. To everyone's surprise, The South Chicago Hitmen, as they came to be called, powered their way into first place in their division late in the summer with exciting come from behind wins and unexpected power at the plate from such players as Chet Lemon, Richie Zisk, Oscar Gamble, and Eric Soderholm. Even though they won 90 games, they faded late in the season and finished in third place.

The podcast episode focused on a first. In 1977, the White Sox hired Mary Shane as one of their announcers. She worked the microphone sometimes as a play by play announcer and other times as a color analyst. She didn't work every game of the season, but she was the first woman ever to be hired as a legitimate announcer for a major league team. 

She faced many difficulties and obstacles. The podcast explores them. It also explores Mary Shane's life after the White Sox let her go and tells a story that is at once inspiring and very sad. I won't give away details in case you decide to take a listen. 

3. Debbie prepared chicken enchiladas and Spanish rice for family dinner tonight and Carol brought a tasty corn salad and Molly made guacamole to go with the corn chips Paul provided. Christy brought two bottles of white wine, one of them a delicious favorite of hers that she purchased on her getaway to Walla Walla. I mixed margaritas to start and hot buttered rums as an after dinner drink. 

We hadn't all been together for at least a couple of weeks and we settled into an evening of stories, catching up, and some raucous laughter. Some of it was raunchy, having to do with a certain trivia category at Radio Brewing Wednesday night -- "Is it a cocktail or a sex position?" -- but some things said at family dinner stay at family dinner. Well, we did learn that a golden shower is a cocktail -- I'll say that much. 

Three Beautiful Things 12-05-2021: A Grim True Crime Movie, A Short Living Room Concert, A Short Testing Walk

 1. I subscribe to the Criterion Channel and among the many collections of movies available right now is a group of true crime films. A few days ago, I watched trailers on IMDb of three of these moves: The Valachi Papers, The Honeymoon Killers, and 10 Rillington Place.  The last two, in particular, struck me as really disturbing. They were made around 1970-71, a time in movie making in the USA that intrigues me. The Motion Pictu re Production Code policing movies' content was no longer in place. Certain movie makers, liberated from this code, explored formerly banned content -- the spoken language in movies became more raw, the visual language less restricted, and many movies in the 1970s set out not to entertain audiences but to confront darker, less comforting elements of human life.

Independent film makers emerged, making movies on low budgets without studio support or restrictions and many of these movies were daring and disturbing.

The Honeymoon Killers is such a movie. Shot in flatly lit black/gray and white, it tells the story of two real life people, Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck who, by participating in a lonely hearts club, fleeced lonely women out of their money and, in some cases, killed them. 

The movie is a study of deceit, depravity, loneliness, sociopathy, desperation, greed, jealousy, and cruelty.

Shirley Stoler brilliantly plays the role of Martha Beck, a lonely, desperate, authoritarian, deeply insecure, nurse. The con man Raymond Fernandez, a narcissistic manipulator, two bit hustler, and low life "lady's man" is played perfectly by Tony Lo Bianco. 

I admired much about the art of this movie's production. I rarely watch horror movies. It was unlike me to watch this one. But knowing it was not shot in color, knowing when it was made, and being curious about its cinematic qualities as an independent movie, I watched it. 

The movie's immediacy, its raw depravity, its colorless and often claustrophobic atmosphere made it difficult to endure. I doubt, though, that I will ever forget Shirley Stoler's chilling portrayal of the bitter, miserable, at times, pathetic, and deluded Martha Beck nor will I soon forget Tony Lo Bianco's portrayal of the unctuous, smooth talking flim flam man, Raymond Fernandez. 

2. I needed to listen to some comforting music after watching this movie. Debbie told me that Bill Staines had passed away today and I played a video of him singing "Roseville Fair". I then turned to Guy Clark and "Dublin Blues". Debbie requested Chris Smither's performing "Happier Blue". I ended this mini concert with JJ Cale performing "Magnolia" and "Call Me the Breeze". It felt good to have the disturbing images and scenes from The Honeymoon Killers replaced in my mind with these superb songs.

3. I've had some discomfort return to my left foot. I've been resting it, but decided today to take a ten minute (or so) walk and see how it held up. It did fine and I'm thinking that more daily short walks is a good idea. I'll continue to test my foot's tolerance of walking and, I hope, regain some of the wind I've lost by not walking much at all for a while. 

Three Beautiful Things 12-04-2021: I'm a Poll/Draft Stock Grinch! (Big Deal!), Steve Kerr, Making Granola

 1.  Alabama defeated the Zags today, 91-82. I love watching Gonzaga play strong, challenging teams, whether the Zags win or lose. Today the sharp shooting, aggressive, athletic Crimson Tide were the superior team -- they shot better, defended better, got to rebounds and loose balls better, and played through some difficult stretches better. 

This evening's tilt and ESPN's coverage of it magnified for me how I watch college basketball and what I care about and don't care about.

For starters, I don't care about present college day players' standing in mock NBA drafts nor do I care about how pundits think they will perform at "the next level". With 9:42 to go in the first half of the Zag-Crimson Tide game, ESPN brought NBA draft expert, Mike Schmitz, onto the broadcast during a break in the action as the referees huddled to sort out whether Chet Holmgren had committed a flagrant foul. 

I don't doubt Mike Schmitz's expertise, but as the referees arrived at their decision, and play resumed, Schmitz and ESPN analyst Sean Farnham continued their discussion of different players' "stock" in the 2022 NBA draft (which is over six months away) and, to me, their discussion not only dragged the game's coverage to the level of a flat tire, it distracted from what mattered most, the game at hand. 

As Schmitz and Farnham talked and talked and talked about Chet Holmgren and JD Davison and the draft, even as the game resumed, longtime basketball writer Dana O'Neil tweeted,  "Oh joy. After the break ESPN is going to not talk about the great college game going on and instead blather about draft stock. I'll break the news: both [Holmgren and Davison] are really good and will be drafted high. Now let's actually enjoy the game for the game."

I thought the same thing. I thought it the other night when a buddy and I were talking uptown about the Zags and he steered the conversation toward whether Holmgren would succeed at the next level. 

I had nothing to say. 

I'll be interested in Holmgren playing in the NBA when he gets there. I'm unable and uninterested in speculating about it now -- or listening to such speculation on the broadcast.

I also don't care about the weekly polls.

As I watched the Zags and Alabama, I did all I could to forget the two teams' rankings in the polls. 

I tried to imagine a broadcast that never mentioned the polls, that just focused on what was happening on the court without regard for whether Gonzaga was ranked too high or Alabama too low. 

I tried to imagine watching this game without storylines, without emphasis on Gonzaga's rise to prominence over the last several years, without emphasis on Alabama as an up and coming program.

So I blocked out as much of that noise as I could and enjoyed watching Alabama's aggression, their fearless outside shooting, their tenacity to win battles for rebounds and loose balls. I enjoyed Gonzaga's second half comeback, even though it fell short, and enjoyed how Alabama didn't surrender their lead but absorbed Gonzaga's second half push back and asserted their superiority.

In short, what I enjoy in watching college basketball is teams playing each other, not imagining in my head what would happen if they played. 

When it comes to games, I love the one I'm with. I don't love trying to figure out the outcome of a game that isn't happening right now or trying to determine whether one team is better than another by any measure other than playing each other on the court. 

(I'll just add that once conference play begins, I love standings, especially in February and March because one's standing in a conference is based on real games between teams, not on the votes a team garners in a poll.)

2. After the Zags/Alabama game, I watched the last two episodes of The Last Dance. I enjoyed and would have liked to have seen even more action from the Bulls' playoff series with the Pacers and the Jazz. I enjoyed those potential usurpers of the Bulls' reign, and recalled, again, that it always came down to the fact that neither team had a player who could dictate a game's outcome like Michael Jordan.

These last two episodes included a most emotional and riveting several minutes. They occurred when the makers of this series interviewed Steve Kerr about his father,  Malcolm Kerr, the president of American University in Beirut, who was assassinated in Beirut in 1984. 

Kerr didn't mention it, but I immediately flashed back to when Kerr played at Arizona and when, before a game against Arizona State, a small knot of ASU students chanted, "PLO. PLO. PLO" and "Your father's history" and "Why don't you join the Marines and go back to Beirut?" at Kerr.  It was the epitome of repugnant fan behavior.

In the documentary, Kerr told the story of his father, his academic commitment to studying the Middle East and his commitment to fostering a better understanding of that region. Kerr moved me with his dignity and his emotional honesty as he recalled losing his father to political violence. Michael Jordan's father was also murdered, in 1993. Kerr revealed that he and Jordan never talked about losing their dads. He remarked it was just too raw of a subject.

3.Earlier in the day, I baked granola. I kept it simple: oatmeal, melted butter, cinnamon, allspice, vanilla, and maple syrup. We can add fresh fruit, nuts, dried fruits of other ingredients to it in the bowl. The granola turned out really good. It's not nearly as sweet as what we buy in the store and I boosted the amount of cinnamon I put in it, satisfying my enjoyment of all things cinnamon-y!