1. Whenever I make a trip to Eugene and stay a while, I try to get together with Roger Pearson, Terry Turner, and Dale Bachman for lunch. Lo and behold, it worked out that all four of us could meet today at 11:30 at BJ's in Valley River Center. Roger, Terry, and I were on the Kellogg Wildcat basketball team together as seniors the first year Dale taught at Kellogg (1971-72) and he was our basketball team's assistant l coach.
We didn't really talk much about the old days of high school basketball. We learned, though, that Dale, who is over seventy-five years old, continues to play slow pitch softball and the team he plays for has won gold, silver, and bronze medals at the World Senior Games in St. George, Utah. Dale pitches and he also serves, when needed, as a substitute runner for teammates. Dale continues to bowl in two leagues and is hoping to get back to the golf course and play more.
Our server at BJ's took group pictures of us. If I get any of those pictures sent to me, I'll post them on this blog so you can see how hale and hearty Dale looks and how happy the four of us were to be together.
2. Rita called me during lunch, hoping I could come to her house this afternoon. She was distressed. At first, I didn't think I could, but upon further reflection, I figured out that I could blast down to Creswell and so I went to see her. I brought a couple of books, World of Wonders and The Book of Delights, knowing that Rita would like me to read to her.
As it turned out, for the time I was at Rita's, she was dealing with health problems that left her unable to listen to me read. We agreed, however, that I would return and the plan is for me to spend time on Saturday afternoon with her and read to her then.
3. For many years, Margaret, Jeff, Michael, and I used to meet about once a month for afternoon coffee and yak about all kinds of stuff. We used to talk a lot about books, movies, our classroom experiences, our approaches to teaching, what was happening in our lives apart from our jobs, and a lot of other stuff.
We met today at a downtown tea shop, Tea Chai Te, and spent a couple of hours in rousing conversation. Margaret recently traveled to Ireland and has been continuing to make art and hike every week. Michael was especially happy with his guitar playing lately and he's been absorbed in fascinating books and been watching great movies -- as has Margaret. Jeff and I were both exhilarated about our nights out listening to live music on Wednesday and Thursday nights and Jeff and Michael had some splendid exchanges about Bob Dylan.
As our conversation grew, I felt us getting more and more comfortable being back together and I loved how much we laughed together, especially during the last half hour.
As is so often the case when I make these visits, I wished I could be back meeting with these longtime friends on a regular basis again. But, if I am able, as I plan to be, to return in early December for Linda S's retirement party, my hope is that the four of us can convene again and enjoy more of one another's company.
My plan today had been to go to a laundromat in the afternoon.
Therefore, I had my laundry with me all afternoon.
After we were done with our coffee meeting, Jeff invited me to do my laundry at his house and so when it was time to put my clothes in the dryer, I ordered us sandwiches at Cheba Hut, picked them up, and Jeff and I had a tasty dinner together. I also recorded a sound bite for Jeff's radio show, loaded up my dry laundry, and headed back to where I'm staying.
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