1. Today was a much anticipated High Holy Day in Kellogg, Idaho!
For months, Ed has been spearheading a multi-pronged effort to hold a surprised retirement party for Nancy at the Elks Club. By word of mouth and some savvy use of Facebook, the word got out and by 5 o'clock this afternoon a throng had gathered at the Elks and let out a rousing cry of SUPRISE when Nancy arrived.
The ploy worked!
Nancy had no idea what she was walking into and the party went into overdrive.
Nancy's son-in-law and daughter catered GarrenTeed BBQ and Harley and Mark mixed drinks and slung beer and wine. Ed and Nancy circulated around the room, talking to people at every table, smiling and laughing, shaking hands and hugging friends and children, savoring the joy of the occasion.
Nancy's many years of managing the local Subway shop have been demanding and Nancy met every challenge with determination and persistence. I know from conversations and comments I've read online that Nancy was widely appreciated, especially by the store's regular customers and people who worked for her.
I hope for Nancy retirement means rest, relief from fatigue, and a chance to spend time doing things she enjoys and to pursue new endeavors.
From my perspective, tonight's party was a superb occasion to launch her in that direction!
2. I admit it.
I've been spending a lot of time at home over the last couple of weeks, watching movies, cooking, recovering from a mild cold -- I haven't been social at all.
That changed today and tonight and I loved it.
Debbie and I went uptown early, before the High Holy Day got under way at the Elks, and dropped in at the Inland Lounge.
We were enjoying drinking 7 and 7s and yakkin' with Cas when Mike and Ruth strolled into the Lounge and our already enjoyable session became way more fun.
I hadn't seen Ruth for several years and Debbie and Ruth hadn't met before, so we all got acquainted and fell into fun conversation, mostly about one of our favorite topics, our love for dogs and cats!
I was pumped.
This great session at The Lounge vaulted me into more joy across the street at the Elks and I rode this crest of joy back across McKinley Ave by returning to The Lounge as Nancy's party wound down.
Before long Ruth and Mike returned. Ed and Nancy and three Subway friends came over, too.
Boisterous conversation ensued -- it was a blast talking about life in Virginia, living back east and visiting different historical and cultural spots back there, life in Spokane, and joining Ed and Mike to tell great tales about our fun times in New York City and the great people we met while in Manhattan back in 2017.
I could have downed more 7 and 7s, become jollier and jollier, and yakked with this post-party bunch all night long -- and might have if I were still a young man. But, our superb time together broke up at about 8:30 and I wisely cut myself off and went home.
I know I've written this about 1,000,000 times on this blog over the years, but here I go again: I really enjoy socializing with people thirty to forty years younger than I am. It was true again tonight. The young people at our table were smart, funny, engaged, engaging, fascinating, and full of life. They seemed to enjoy us oldsters and that, too, is fun and uplifting.
So, to sum up, I could hardly have had a more invigorating way to bring my time of isolation, my time of enjoyable isolation, to an end.
3. Today was a fired up day for me long before Debbie and I headed up to The Lounge and to Nancy's retirement party.
The Presidents Cup also fired me up.
I'm not much of a partisan sports fan.
Even in a competition like the Presidents Cup, which features a team of USA golfers against a team of golfers from around the world, outside of Europe, when you'd think I'd be all about joining the galleries in North Carolina chanting, "USA! USA! USA!", I'm just not that partisan.
I like to watch close matches, great shotmaking, and exciting moments. I don't care whether the USA creates them or the International side does.
Today, it was the International side whose players ignited fireworks and this underdog squad prevailed. Two players in particular, Australia's Cam Davis and South Korea's Tom Kim, played electrifying golf and Kim further energized the tournament with his animated and unbridled fist pumps and cries of joy.
Coming into Sunday, the USA will win the cup if they can win 4.5 points in singles matches. The International side needs to win 8.5 points. There are twelve points available on Sunday and they will be competed for intensely with fire.
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