Debbie often asks me if I'm doing in my retirement what I want to do. On Friday, October 14, 2022, I did exactly what I want to do in my retirement. I know I can't do this every day, not even every week, but possibly I could do something along these lines once or twice a month. I combined having a blast with nourishing my inward spirit.
If you read the following Three (more like at least Six) Beautiful Things, you'll see how I love spending my time. The only thing I would add to what I did on Friday would be spending time with friends. I decided, however, to go solo on Friday. For this one day and on into Saturday, I wanted to experience some personal pleasures all on my own.
1. My day started at Rustic, a joint in downtown Coeur d'Alene. For weeks, ever since I was last in Eugene, I have been longing for a certain kind of bagel baked in house. I'd read up on who makes bagels in CdA and learned that Rustic boils their bagels, giving them a chewy texture and that sounded like just what I wanted.
I love cinnamon raisin bagels and ordered one untoasted with cream cheese. I was almost entirely pleased with the bagel. The bagel's texture was just what I wanted. It made me think that I'd be happy with every style of bagel they bake. I only had one minor problem with the bagel. I love raisins. I thought this cinnamon raisin bagel needed more raisins. My first thought was that possibly this was just a particular bagel from the batch that didn't get as many raisins as others. Next time I visit Rustic, I'll order another cinnamon raisin bagel and see if it's more packed with raisins. If it's not, then I'll know what the deal is and, in the future, I'll order another kind of bagel -- I mean, no way am I going to boycott Rustic's bagels because I think their cinnamon raisin bagels should be more raisin-y. I'll just move on to cheese or plain or blueberry or everything or something else.
I loved Rustic's coffee, by the way.
Okay. So in my retirement, in a perfect world, I wouldn't be like the gray hairs on the ads for companies selling retirement investment products, frolicking in a swimming pool or in the ocean in a tropical site, looking fit and virile, enjoying retirement with their happy perfectly fit wives.
No, in a perfect world, I'd start each day with a bagel in a place where that bagel was made that day and so, today, I did that!
Next, I made a quick stop at a Wells Fargo branch in CdA (Kellogg's branch closed in July) to deposit some KHS Class of 72 money that Sharon had had in her possession and I'd had had in mine.
With that bit of business completed, I blasted up to the Hayden 6 Cinema.
As I purchased my ticket for See How They Run, I thought and thought and tried to remember when I last watched a movie in a movie theater.
I think it was December 23, 2019. Mary Chase, Kathy Brainard, and I went to see Knives Out at the Riverpark Square, a night and a movie I've cherished ever since.
Ah! That Hayden 6 Cinema was giving an 11:50 showing of this movie and that the short summary I read about See How They Run reminded me of Knives Out had me stoked.
I love going to movies late in the morning and early in the afternoon.
I'd had a blast watching Knives Out (both times) and looked forward to another off beat murder mystery -- this one set in the theater world of 1953 London. (It also made me think of that Columbo episode featuring a murder backstage at a London theater, the one featuring Richard Basehart and Honor Blackman, entitled "Dagger of the Mind". )
I arrived at the theater in plenty of time and joined the other four or five people seated in the very back row to watch a few ads and then the previews of coming attractions.
During the previews, I began to tear up.
Not because of the trailers, but because after an absence of 34 months, I was in a movie theater, in the dark, with action and sound unfolding before me on a huge movie screen and I had terribly missed this favorite experience of mine.
I've tried to compensate for not having a movie theater in the Silver Valley and for staying out of movie theaters since the contagion kicked into overdrive by watching scores of movies on my television and my laptop -- and I've loved it -- but, beyond my own awareness, I'd terribly missed being in a movie theater and it hit me beautifully and hard all of a sudden how happy I was to be in a theater again.
I suddenly realized that, in some ways, it wasn't going to matter what I thought of the quality of the movie.
I was teary eyed just to be in a cinema.
As it turned out, though, I had a blast watching See How They Run.
It had so much going on! It parodied the theater business, the movie industry, Agatha Christie mysteries, and more; it was packed with puns, inside jokes, movie and theater references, and comic action. Sam Rockwell plays Stoppard, an alcoholic Scotland Yard inspector who is joined on the movie's murder case by Saorise Ronan, an earnest constable, obsessed with movies, working on her first ever homicide. I had fun laughing as the movie parodied Agatha Christie while at the same parodying itself. It's a movie that is making fun of movies and becomes a part of the joke itself. (I'm not sure that makes sense, but if you watch it, I think you'll see what I mean.)
I'm aching to share some of the inside jokes and references to 1940s movies, but I won't do it. All I can say is that I don't know how many of the jokes I caught and how many I missed, but the ones I did catch gave me moments of welcome and delicious outrage (OMG! I can't believe the movie did that!).
2. I left the theater happy, hoping to get back to CdA in the future for more movies early in the day. I loved having this movie live with me as I drove to Spokane, checked into my airbnb room, and as I almost immediately booked an Uber ride to go downtown to hang out for 3-4 hours before tonight's concert at the Bing Crosby Theater.
The driver drove me into Railroad Alley just off Monroe Street right in front of the entry to Whistle Punk Brewery, a spot I'd read about, but never visited.
(If you are keeping score at home, so far my perfect retirement day has included: a freshly baked bagel with coffee, watching a movie early in the day, checking into an airbnb room, leaving the Camry at the house where I was staying, taking an Uber downtown and having not a care in the world about the car, how much I might drink, or having to drive at night, and, now, visiting a new brewery. I admit, it's not the retirement promised by the marketing people -- no golf carts, no pool, no beaches, no adult beverages served in a pineapple, but it's doing things the way I most enjoy them!)
The Whistle Punk Brewery was started by a retired logger and his son. I stepped into the taproom, housed in the old brick Spokane Electric Building. The tap room's walls are made of exposed brick and stone and the walls feature old logging equipment hanging up along with historic logging photographs.
I thought of the opening of Richard Hugo's poem, "The Milltown Union Bar (Laundromat and Cafe)": "You could love here".
That's what I immediately thought.
I could love here.
The bricks, the outgoing helpful friendly guy named Chris pouring beer, the tap list stocked with pilsners, lagers, other Octoberfest season German beers, an Irish red ale, and a couple IPAs.
This is not, I immediately realized, an IPA focused brewery or taproom.
I could love here.
So, I ordered a German Festbier, a beer brewed for Octoberfest, and it was just what I wanted. It's a lager style, full of fascinating flavors, and has a nice kick at 5.8% abv.
I noticed that Chris was pouring Czech Pilsner from a side tap (called a side pour), a way of pouring beer with a heavy head of foam that I hadn't seen since visiting Notch Brewing with the Troxstar in Salem, MA when we met Em Sauter there.
On the spot today, I couldn't remember the name of Notch Brewing, but I mentioned to Chris that I'd been to this brewery in Salem where I first enjoyed a side pour.
I barely had spoken this when he said, "Bro! That's Notch Brewing!"
I smiled. "You've been there?"
"Absolutely. Awesome brewery."
And we talked a bit about session beers and Notch Brewing and beer in New England and I was experiencing surges of joy. It had been too long since I had this kind of conversation in a brewery.
I went back to my table and remembered that my Facebook profile picture features the Troxstar and me drinking side poured Czech Pilsners at Notch Brewing. I was getting a little bit uninhibited and so I showed Chris the photo and it kind of fired him up.
Maybe you'd like to see the picture, too:
Then, I risked sounding like a name dropper.
But, the Troxstar and I met up with Emily Sauter at Notch Brewing. It was her idea. Em is not only our pal from the days ten years ago when she worked at 16 Tons, she's also well-known in the beer world for her beer artistry. Online, she publishes informative beer cartoons under the name of Pints and Panels and she recently published a book Hooray for Craft Beer: An Illustrated Guide to Beer.
So I asked Chris, "Do you read Pints and Panels online?"
"Bro! Yes! And I met Em back east and we had a great conversation. Wait a second. I'll be right back."
Chris disappeared and returned with a pint can of Munich Dunkel beer.
"Bro. When we brewed this beer, Em designed the can's label. Here. Take this home."
I was blown away.
New England beer. Notch Brewing. We both know Em. Em designed a beer can's label for Whistle Punk Brewing. I hadn't had this much fun in a brewery tap room or tap house since I was last in Eugene.
I told Chris I couldn't take the beer right now and he asked if I could come back on Saturday and pick it up. The joint would be open at 1:00.
Hell, yes I can come back, I thought.
I'm retired.
I can hang out in Spokane on Saturday until 1:00.
So Chris put the beer in the cooler, gave me his business card, we shook hands, and before long I headed out, stoked, feeling the euphoric effects of a pint and a half of Festbier and having had awesome conversation with Chris.
Oh! If you'd like to check out Pints and Panels, just go to http://www.pintsandpanels.com
And, if you are wondering what Em's beer label looks like, here are two views of Whistle Punk's Munich Dunkel featuring Em's work:
The last time I ate sushi or any Japanese food was back in May when Hugh, Carol, and I ate dinner at Nishino in Seattle.
Well, if this awesome day in my retirement were going to proceed with me indulging the simple pleasures of my life, then I my next move was going to be taking a seat at a Spokane Japanese restaurant.
The Inlander's top rated sushi restaurant is in Kendall Yards, but the runner up is downtown and has the whimsical name of Sushi.com. It's at the corner of Main and Stevens.
I had looked the menu over online before I left Kellogg, so I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted and here's what I decided to eat:
* Oyster Gold Yaki -- four oysters baked in creamy sesame sauce
* Nigiri Sushi -- raw scallops
*Nigiri Sushi -- cooked/marinated eel Unagi
* Yakisoba Noodles with Tofu
I loved this meal.
I loved the variety of flavors and textures, the pleasure of how the oysters swimming in sesame sauce tasted, and the sweetness of the Unagi and the scallops.
The tofu was prepared perfectly and I simply love diving into a plate of Yakisoba noodles packed with vegetables.
3. I had walked the several blocks from the Whistle Punk Brewery to Sushi.com and now I retraced many of my steps and strolled to the Bing Crosby Theater.
The doors opened at 7:00 and when I arrived at about 6:45, a fairly long line had formed.
The seating was general admission without assigned seats and my sense was that many of the people lined up wanted to sit on the floor level of the theater for this show.
I didn't.
I like the second level and when I got in the building, the area I enjoy most was nearly empty and I sat right where I wanted.
Tonight's show featured Pigs on the Wing, a Pink Floyd Tribute band.
Out in the line, I stood behind a couple who were telling another couple that they were from the Seattle area and they will travel as many as 6-8 hours to see Pigs on the Wing any chance they get.
I took note of their enthusiasm.
Another fanatic lover of Pigs on the Wing sat in from of me in the theater and he enthused for quite a while to the people sitting next to him that Pigs on the Wings "were the best" and "I know because I heard Pink Floyd four times live back in the day and these guys are the closest I've ever heard to the Pink Floyd of that era."
I took note of his enthusiasm.
So, just for the record, I had never heard Pigs on the Wing until tonight and Pigs on the Wing is the fourth Pink Floyd Tribute band I've listened to live, joining The Floydian Slips, The Australian Pink Floyd, and the Black Jacket Symphony, all of whom I loved.
In addition, just for the record, I am incapable of comparing one of these bands to the others.
When, for instance, I went to my first Australian Pink Floyd show in Eugene, I wasn't thinking about whether they were better or worse than The Floydian Slips. I was completely absorbed in the pleasure of their performance and for the duration of the show, it was as if I'd never heard another Pink Floyd Tribute band in my life.
With that in mind, I can make one statement about tribute bands in general.
Tribute bands fall roughly into two categories: those that work to play a note to note faithful recreation of the band's music and those who are faithful to the band's songs, but invest them with their own jams, breakouts, and style.
The Black Jacket Symphony is a band that prides itself in note to note faithfulness as they play whatever group they are paying tribute to. Their Pink Floyd show back in March 2020 was out of sight.
Pigs on the Wing are at the other end of the spectrum. They are faithful to Pink Floyd's fundamental sound and to the fundamental skeleton of each song, and then they explore these songs in their own ways.
Their show tonight was out of sight.
The first set featured all the songs from Dark Side of the Moon and to round out the hour they played an absolutely supersonic version of a jammed out "Have a Cigar". It was a surprising and explosive coda to Dark Side and sent me into intermission totally stoked for what the band had in store for the second set.
They came roaring out with great versions of "Sheep" from Animals, a strong selection of cuts from The Wall, and some fun psychedelic wanderings from a couple of cuts from Meddle.
Their last song of the encore ended the show wistfully as they performed, and encouraged a sing a long to "Wish You Were Here" which I found emotionally very satisfying and calming.
I sat in my seat and stared for a while when the show ended, blissed out to have heard live music again and blissed out that I enjoyed Pigs on the Wing thoroughly.
Upon leaving the theater, I followed a path I've followed after several shows either at the Bing or the Fox. I strolled to the Sapphire Lounge and ordered a nightcap, a dry gin martini straight up with green olives.
I sat alone in a corner table enjoying the crowd of people of all ages enjoying a night on the town; several of the older customers had also been to the Pigs on the Wing show.
I was elated that I didn't have to drive back to my room on East Rowan.
I stepped outside, requested a ride from Uber, and not long after midnight was in my room, needing to quiet down the adrenaline still coursing in my veins, but soon able to settle down and bring my pretty much perfect day of retirement to a close.
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