1. I dashed over to Yoke's this morning, set on buying the wine for Sunday's family dinner. Carol is preparing an Italian dinner and I volunteered to bring, as assigned by Carol, an Italian wine. I had asked Carol what to buy and she thought Yoke's usually carried a Chianti.
Well, maybe Yoke's in Kellogg used to carry a Chianti, but evidently there's either a very high demand for Chianti and Yoke's was sold out or Chianti isn't very popular in Kellogg so Yoke's doesn't carry it.
Either way, I came up empty.
I bolted back home, wrote a panicked email to Carol and Christy with the subject heading Family Dinner EMERGENCY! and sought their counsel. Christy said she might be going out to Barney's and, if she did, she'd see if Barney's carried Chianti. It turned out Christy didn't need to go to Barney's -- she found everything she needed at Yoke's! -- and so I sweat cold bullets for hours, waiting to hear from Carol.
Carol's delay made me think she didn't fully understand the gravity of the situation 😉, but, just as I was about to jump in the Sube with a willingness to search every wine cellar in North Idaho for a bottle of Chianti, Carol got back to me.
In six simple words, Carol quieted my anxiety and tranquilized my nerves: "A Syrah or Shiraz would work".
My breathing returned to normal. My hands stopped shaking. I knew, because I had slowly and carefully read every wine bottle on the shelves at Yoke's that the store carries both wines.
I will fulfill my obligation to Sunday's dinner and not be the cause of it's failure.
Thank goodness!
2. There is definitely an unwritten rule in the unwritten book of unwritten rules that states that if a person is a graduate of the University of Oregon -- or even a fan of the Ducks -- that person must hate the Oregon State Beavers.
Was I ever grateful today that I've never submitted to nor obeyed that rule.
If I had, I would have denied myself the pleasure of watching the Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team knuckle down on defense, slowly, but eventually, find some rhythm on offense, and, in a physical grind of a game, defeat Loyola of Chicago, 65-58. Remarkably, the Beavers advance to the fourth round of the NCAA Tournament as a 12th seed, as the team picked in the preseason to finish last in Pac-12.
As I watched the Beavers win today, a few things stood out. First, without a doubt, their team leader, both in scoring and in temperament, is Ethan Thompson. He keeps the Oregon State offense organized, has a knack for scoring in pressure situations, and brings a contagious joy and confidence to each game. Secondly, the Beavers have about seven or eight next tier players who are about equal in talent. The best of them is the explosive leaper, Warith Alatishe, and then the Beavers have a wave of hard-working defenders, some of whom who might get hot and score in double figures, but who come in and out of the game, giving one another some rest, play solid defense, and give the Beavers depth. The Beavers have also been, throughout the tournament, great from the free throw line, a particularly important strength late in these games when the Beavers have been protecting their leads.
Oregon State faces a stern test on Monday when they play the University of Houston. I don't know what to expect. Like Oregon State (and like Loyola-Chicago), Houston plays strong defense. Houston would appear to my (not that trustworthy) eye to have more players who are reliable scorers and they are a bigger and longer team than any the Beavers have faced so far in the tournament.
A Beaver win would be astonishing, but astonishing wins have been the Beavers' trademark ever since they won four straight games on four consecutive days to win the Pac-12 Tournament and qualify for the Big Dance.
3. I don't know that I'll ever figure out how Luna and Copper experience each other. On the face of it, I'd say Copper is sometimes intimidated by Luna, but other times they rest peacefully together on the couch and are definitely at peace with each other when we all go to sleep at night.
Today, and I don't know who initiated this, Luna and Copper got frisky with each other and I couldn't tell if the chasing, hissing, hiding, romping around from room to room was playful, if Luna was being aggressive and asserting her dominance, or a combination of both.
This chasing around lasted no more than ten or fifteen minutes and then Luna and Copper retreated to their usual places. I wondered, at one point, if they were having a territorial dust up over my bed. Usually I keep Luna and Copper out of my bedroom because Copper was, on occasion, taking dumps on the bed.
Copper always wants to be in that room and, because I knew he had just done his business in the litter box, I left the bedroom door open and Copper immediately made himself at home on the bed.
I think the chasing around started soon after Copper jumped on my bed and that makes me think that Luna wanted to make sure Copper knew who rules the roost.
No harm resulted, just some commotion, and an interruption to the usually calm and quiet lives Copper and Luna normally live day to day.
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