Monday, September 4, 2023

Three Beautiful Things 09-03-2023: Cooling Down, We Were Dinner Guests, Clark Is In the House

1. I have spent much of this summer not wanting to experience a repeat of what happened back in June when, on a simple bicycle ride from Kellogg to Smelterville and back again, on a morning I had thought was mild, I got over exposed to sunshine, overheated, nauseous, and dehydrated. The physical effects of that incident stayed with me for about five days. I haven't been back on my bicycle since and I've spent way too much time indoors, especially on hot and sunny days.

It seems to be cooling off some here in early September. 

I want (and need) to exert whatever mental strength I possess to break out of the habit I've fallen into in the last couple of months of staying indoors a lot and get back out and be active. 

I'm going to have to push myself. I develop routines or habits and they are difficult for me to change. 

I've got to, though.

I don't want to fall into a major funk from the fairly minor one I'm in right now.

2. While I was over at Carol and Paul's house feeding the rabbits and checking up on the enigmatic cat, Clark, Debbie texted me with the news that Diane's daughter, Kelly, was fixing a Mexican dinner for a bunch of family members and we were invited.

If we accepted this invitation, it meant that Gibbs would get to see about six dogs, all smaller than he is, and mostly related to him one way or another. 

We accepted the invitation. 

Dinner was at Kelly's house -- which used to be Diane's house -- and, oh my! what a dinner Kelly, with help from her brother, Matt, prepared.

Regarding food and drink, the first delight of the evening was the dispenser of margaritas. All I had to do was put my ice filled Solo cup under the spigot, open it, and fill my cup. The margarita was mercifully mixed with a low to moderate amount of tequila and so I could enjoy sipping on it without getting hammered. 

The second delight: Matt had smoked a batch of tomatoes and with them he made a salsa that was mild to medium in heat and absolutely over the top in flavor. Therefore, snacking on a few chips with this smokey salsa before the main event was awesome.

The third delight was the main event itself. 

We each made ourselves a tostada. 

On top of a corn tortilla we piled any number of the following options: homemade refried beans, grilled pork, chicken, and/or beef, Mexican cheese, shredded cabbage, and salsa. Kelly made Mexican rice and Mexican street corn on the cob as sides. 

I might have forgotten something in my description, but suffice it to say, this was an awesome dinner, with great variety, textures, and a nice amount of smoke. 

Then, one more delight: Leah made a light, spongy Mexican cake for dessert. It was out of sight. 

3. After dinner, I checked up on the enigmatic Clark (the cat) over at Carol and Paul's. I opened the back sliding door and sat around, playing a game on my phone. Lo and behold, I heard Clark come in the house. I saw him inspect things down the hallway. I closed the sliding door, looked around to see where Clark might be. 

He disappeared -- maybe he went under a bed or he might have hiding places I don't know about.

Not sure.

But I am nearly 100% certain that when I walked out the door, Clark was in the house somewhere. 

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