Three Beautiful Things 11-03-2023: When Jeff and I Were Stopped Cold by a SWAT Team, "Morning Dew" and Communion, Trader Joe's Dinner

1. Today I went to the kepw.org archives and listened to the Nov. 2nd airing of Jeff Harrison's Thursday night radio show, Deadish. He told me in advance that he had a "special note" for me in the show, so I listened in, eager to know what the note was.

Well.

Jeff was playing Zero, reaching back to shows from November, 1994 at Eugene's WOW Hall.  He asked me, on the show, if he and I were on our way to one of these November shows when a SWAT team confronted us in a vacant lot near the WOW Hall, the SWAT team leader outfitted in camo, pointing a gun at us, screaming like a drill sergeant, telling us to STOP!

We had been strolling through alleyways from my house on our way to the corner of 8th and Lincoln and one of us casually noted that there sure were a lot of police cars around.

Here's why: an armed criminal had stolen a car at Valley River Center, rocketed into our neighborhood, and accosted a person in their home and was now on foot. 

The criminal was wearing black jeans and a black Levi jacket and had a ponytail.

Just our luck.

That's exactly what Jeff was wearing and Jeff wears his hair in a long ponytail.

I might note here that Jeff and I might have been the two most harmless men in Eugene -- peace seekers, rarely confrontational, laid back devotees to the Grateful Dead and jam bands like Zero.

Luckily, we didn't get shot.

But the police cuffed Jeff, incapacitated him, and all Jeff could do (as did I) was show the cops that we had tickets to that evening's Zero show at WOW Hall -- less than a block from where we were surrounded by uniformed police, camo SWAT team guy, and a phalanx of police cars.

The police weren't interested in me. No one reported the perpetrator being in the company of a long-haired stocky guy dressed in purple, possibly wearing a purple fanny pack. 

It turned out that one of the police officer's father worked at LCC, so I yakked with him.

A security guy at Valley River Center was with the person whose car had been stolen and the police told the security guy to bring the victim to 8th and Lincoln so the victim could tell them whether Jeff was the car jacker. 

Well, there was a delay.

The security guy got lost between Valley River Center and our location near WOW Hall.

Finally, though, he arrived and the victim, from the street, about sixty feet from where Jeff was standing, was emphatic that Jeff WAS NOT the man who had robbed him.

So, the police removed the cuffs from Jeff's wrists, and, without apology, let us go. 

Let me repeat: Jeff asked me, on the air, if this happened before one of the early November shows of 1994. 

I wrote Jeff back and informed him that our being detained by the SWAT team happened in the spring of 1994. I knew this because the whole incident occurred in the sunshine and mild weather of spring. 

Jeff looked back at Zero archives and confirmed that sure enough, Zero played a three night run at the end of April, 1994.

We went to all three shows.

But we were a little late for the Thursday show. 

2. So, I enjoy the Grateful Dead a lot, but unlike many others who love the Grateful Dead, I don't have different performances of different songs locked in my memory. Some one like Jeff can tell you when and where the Grateful Dead played a knockout "Truckin'" or an epic "Dark Star". This fact came to mind during the second hour of Jeff's show when he played what I was experiencing as a gorgeous "Morning Dew". But then I wondered -- is this performance of "Morning Dew" considered a GREAT "Morning Dew" by those who keep track of these things? 

But, I set that concern aside and just luxuriated in what I was hearing. 

Jeff came back on the air and mused that he had wondered, when assembling this show, what on earth he could play next coming out of that beautiful "Morning Dew". 

I liked that he said that. 

I liked knowing that the warmth and joy I felt listening to this "Morning Dew" was a shared experience.

It made me think of how much I enjoy the Eucharist in the Episcopal Church, knowing I am in communion with other Anglicans around the world sharing in the communion's bread and wine. 

"Morning Dew". 

Communion. 

I experienced a connection. 

3. When we went to Trader Joe's last Saturday, Debbie bought some packages of pasta and noodles and containers of sauce.

Tonight, she fixed us a Trader Joe's dinner. She boiled a packet of lentil pasta, combined it with some leftover Trader Joe's salad in a bag, and created a very delicious and satisfying pasta salad.