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?
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