1. Back in graduate school, I used to spend time with a fellow student, Ed C., who had served in the Peace Corps in Afghanistan. This was just over thirty-five years ago and the Soviets were at war in Afghanistan. Over breakfast at the Glenwood one morning, Ed told me that there were days when he would be walking across flat areas of rock and no vegetation in Afghanistan and suddenly, out of nowhere, an Afghani, with no malice, would appear in front of him. Ed said, "I don't know how these guys did it. There was nowhere to hide. It was barren. You'd think I'd see someone in the area. But, I didn't. Bill, let me tell you, being among the Afghanis, seeing how well they know their land, I guarantee you, the Soviets don't have a prayer in Afghanistan."
Today, Luna vanished. I looked under the covers on my bed, under furniture, upstairs, downstairs, everywhere I could think of and I saw no sign of her.
I was ready to take a walk, but decided I couldn't enjoy walking until I'd accounted for Luna.
I sat down in the living room and then, as if she were a cat from Afghanistan, Luna suddenly appeared. Out of nowhere! I don't know where she popped up from, but there she was, calm and indifferent, and I was relieved.
I admit, I'm an easy target -- and I think Luna and Copper are messing with my mind!
2. When I lived in Eugene and in Greenbelt and when I used to walk in Washington, D.C., I always had a purpose in mind for my strolls -- taking pictures at the Delta Ponds or around Greenbelt Lake; a monument to visit or a movie theater to walk to in D.C.; in Eugene, I often walked to the bus station or to Cornucopia or another place for breakfast.
In Kellogg, I don't have nearby ponds or lakes to walk to and around. It's not much of a walk to breakfast and in Eugene those walks to breakfast always included me taking pictures of flowers or outdoor places where people sat or coming upon couples holding hands.
So, now, I have to invent reasons, beyond exercising, to go on walks. Today, I wrote out a couple of bills and rather than put them out in my mailbox for Hillary to pick up or rather than walk them down the street to the mailbox a few blocks away, I decided to walk them uptown to the post office.
I decided to give my leg strength and stamina a bit of a test and walked up Depot Hill rather than the shorter Hill Street or Lower 3rd Street hills. I was very happy with how I performed on Depot Hill and was even happier, after I dropped off my mail, to hear Linda L. call out to me from across the street in her pickup.
We had a good visit and then when I got to the bottom of the Hill Street hill, Cas spotted me taking a rest on a bench at the corner of Railroad and Hill. He parked his pickup and joined me and we had a good yakkin' session.
I also spoke briefly with a couple from out of town. They were bicycling on the Trail of the CdAs and asked me about where they might have lunch. I gave them a few ideas. They thought the Backcountry Cafe sounded good and, as luck would have it, they bicycled by Cas and me, stopped, and told me they loved the Backcountry and were grateful I told them about it.
(Please note: I did not recommend any lunch spots. I am so easy to please when it comes to eating in cafes and restaurants that I will mention places, but I won't recommend them. Not even I would trust any of my recommendations!)
3. I spent some time late this afternoon figuring out when to fly to Newark and how long to stay in NY. I decided to leave May 29th and return on June 12th. I booked my flights, sent out messages to Christy, Carol, and Debbie to make sure it worked for them (it did) and then, suddenly, it was time for Bill Davie's 50th(!) Tree House Concert. I quickly poured myself some tequila over a cube of ice and added some Cointreau to it and settled in for a wonderful concert.
Bridgit was in the virtual house for tonight's performance. A while back she suffered a serious fall and is on the road to recovery, but her injuries are several and complicated and it's going to take quite a while to heal. In support of Bridgit's difficulties and in honor of her strength as she goes through the rigors of physical therapy, Bill performed his stirring song, "Raise Your Heart".
Powerful.
It was a stellar concert all the way through. Bill dedicating this song to Bridgit was the topper for me.
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