1. Debbie and I settled, in earnest, back into our domestic life in Kellogg again. Debbie spiffed up the kitchen, I paid bills, Debbie got her laundry done, I cleaned out litter pans and put fresh litter in them, and we had a very good conversation about our finances. I'm almost unpacked after our trip and I'll be next up to get laundry done.
It's quiet in Kellogg. It's quiet in our house. The quiet is a welcome tonic as we ease into living together in Kellogg again.
2. Bill, Val, Diane, and I jumped on Zoom this morning and had a fun time talking for just over an hour. Bill's chronic pain persists. That's not good. He continues to work with medical people to arrive at a diagnosis with the hope he can get going on effective therapies. Val had a great couple of days with her business partner and our mutual friend, Dave V., and was about to get going on writing a book review for one of her courses as she works on her master's degree in history. I rattled on for a while about Debbie's and my travels and Val had travel stories, too, and it was fun to enthuse together about the physical beauty of the USA. When we have our next Zoom meeting in two weeks, we'll launch into our exploration of the first season of The Hollow Crown, with our emphasis on Richard II.
I'm pumped about this project. It's been around 13-15 years since I taught my last course in Shakespeare back at LCC; I was happy that other of my colleagues got to teach the course -- I was always opposed to any instructor having "ownership" of any course. Already, I've made some comments to our Westminster Basement group about how we might look at Richard II and the entirety of the Henriad and I could feel juices flowing in me that hadn't been active for quite a while.
3. While Debbie and I are making a mostly smooth transition back into living together in Kellogg, Luna and especially Copper are having a harder time of it, especially getting used to Gibbs.
As I thought she would be, Luna has been more amenable to cohabitating with Gibbs. She's hissed at him a bit. They had a couple of brief tussles, but it seems that as long as Luna can have sustained periods of time velcroed to me while I'm sitting down and as long as she can burrow under the covers next to me at night, she is doing pretty well.
Copper, on the other hand, spent nearly the entirety of Sunday outside. He didn't eat for way too many hours and this evening he emerged from the bushes onto the deck and I was able to patiently persuade him to come onto the back porch and eat some wet cat food. Finally, maybe around midnight or one a.m., he was at the back door and wanted in. I got out of bed and opened the back door, but Copper was very tentative about coming into the kitchen. He was trying to scope out whether Gibbs was nearby. After a minute or two, I picked him up and carried him to bed and put him on top of the covers.
Luna didn't hassle him at all. I pet Copper for quite a while, reassuring him. We all fell asleep. Luna wanted one more feeding. I got up and fed her and Copper stayed in the bedroom and before long we were all together, at peace, sleeping. It's probably going to take a while, but my hope is that before too long, Copper will accept that Gibbs is in the house and that he's a jolly, playful, good natured dog.
For my own record, I thought I'd make a list of where Debbie and I traveled when and include the names of the breweries we visited.
I arrived at JFK on Monday, Sept. 13th and rode on the AirTrain, the Long Island Railroad, and on two lines of the New Jersey Transit railroad to reach Nanuet, NY where Debbie picked me up.
I stayed with Debbie in Josh and Adrienne's house until September 16th, the day my box of clothes I'd shipped out arrived. I packed up and we were off.
Debbie and I visited two breweries: District 96 in New City and Defiant in Pearl River. We also visited the Growler and Gill tap room.
Sept. 16 We drove from Valley Cottage, New York to Geneva, New York with stops at Hopshire Brewing near Dryden, New York and at a place called WT Brews that was our only lousy beer place the entire trip.
Sept. 17 We drove from Geneva to Niagra Falls and on to Erie, PA. Our beer stop was in Lakewood, NY at Southern Tier Brewing.
Sept. 18 We drove from Erie, PA to Brian's lake place in Long Beach IN and stayed there until Sept. 27th.
During our time at the lake we visited the following breweries:
Greenbush in Sawyer, MI
Transient in Bridgman, MI
Tapistry in Bridgman, MI
Burn 'Em in Michigan City, IN
Sept. 27 We drove from Long Beach, IN to Carp Lake, MI, just minutes south of Macinaw City. We visited Petoskey Brewing in Petoskey, MI.
Sept. 28th We drove from Carp Lake, MI to Marquette, MI. We stopped in at ByGeorge Brewing in Munising, MI and Ore Dock Brewing in Marquette, MI.
Sept. 29th We drove from Marquette, MI to Duluth MN. We stopped at Earth Rider's Cedar Lounge Tasting Room in Superior, WI and Bent Paddle Brewing in Duluth.
Sept. 30th We drove from Duluth, MN to Grand Forks, ND. We stopped in at Rhombus Guys Brewing in Grand Forks.
Oct 1 We drove from Grand Forks, ND to Miles City, MT. We stopped in at Cross Country Brewing in Glendive, MT and Otium Brewing in Miles City, MT.
Oct 2 We drove from Miles City, MT to Kellogg, ID. No breweries. At our family party in Kellogg, however, I enjoyed a couple bottles of Deschutes Black Butte porter!
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