1. Slowly, surely, carefully, deliberately Debbie and I gathered our clothes and a few other things and packed up the Camry, bade Patrick and Meagan farewell, and rocketed down I-5 to Eugene.
2. We almost walked into Market of Choice to purchase some coffee, dairy products, and a few other things, but at the last second we decided to go almost next door to the 16 Tons Cafe and each have an 8 oz pour of Block 15's Sticky Hands IPA. The woman who poured our beer immediately recognized Debbie from when Debbie did that long term sub job here in Eugene and told Debbie how much a former employee adored her. Then 16 Tons owner, Mike, appeared and we hugged Mike and were happy to see each other, but he was busy with owner responsibilities and we settled into a table.
A man sat one table over reading and Debbie asked him what he was reading and it turned out he was reading a book by Dick Gregory. Dick Gregory has spoken at Debbie's high school. He had given a talk at Whitworth when I was a student there. Our new friend, Dee, was in a position in around 1980 to bring Dick Gregory on campus. Well, before we knew it, we got into a long conversation with Dee. We had mutual friends and acquaintances -- it was particularly fun to talk about his friendship with retired LCC instructor, Bill Powell. We swapped stories, experiences, and thoughts.
Our visit to Eugene is off to a fantastic start!
3. I dropped Debbie off at Charlemagne and headed down to the High Street Brewery and Cafe for a pint of my favorite beer, Hammerhead Pale Ale. I was hungry and also ordered a three cheeseburger sliders and a small order of fries. I relaxed, tired from driving, but soon I headed over to Cornucopia where Debbie was yakkin' with her pal and former teaching partner, Jana. I waltzed in, said hi to Debbie and Jana, and bellied up to the bar. I ordered a pint of Oakshire's Frog's Wort Pale Ale and very slowly drank it.
Cam was working the bar. He's gregarious, a great guy, and loves conversation and managed to squeeze in some time to tell me about stuff he's been up to. Mostly, I watched the scene in the southwest corner of the bar. I don't know any of these Cornucopia regulars, but I recognized them from past visits. I could tell from watching their enjoyment of each other and from their laughter and the way they hugged when someone had to leave, that their scene was similar to what I experience at the Inland Lounge -- inside jokes, repeated stories, expert commentary on music and the local events of the day, and some alcohol to loosen things up a bit. Only one guy drank too much and when he pranced around the establishment lifting his shirt up, he was told to go home. He did so without incident and seemed hazily cognizant that he'd crossed a line of acceptable behavior.
On our way to Anne's, where we are staying, we made our quick grocery stop at Market of Choice -- and stayed out of 16 Tons Cafe! Anne warmly greeted us upon our arrival and so did one of the best dogs I've ever known, the friendly and loving Poppy.
I retired to bed early and listened again to the Dave Bromberg hour of Jeff's latest Deadish radio show.
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