1. I am writing this blog post with over four hours ahead of me with nothing scheduled until 6:00. I will take my time writing this post and then plan to remember to post the link to it in the Facebook comments when I'm through. I also think I have my schedule straight today after messing up yesterday and scheduling two get togethers at exactly the same time. Very embarrassing.
So here I go!
I tried to finish writing my blog post enthusing about my uplifting day on Thursday, but didn't quite finish.
I needed to blast onto I-5 and rocket north to Salem to Killer Burger near the Costco on Kuebler Blvd where I'd be meeting my lifelong friend Roger Pearson for a burger and some great yakkin'.
We had a first-rate discussion. We debriefed Don Knott's Celebration of Life, which was great to go back to and remember and we discussed our observations and thoughts about the USA as 2024 nears its end, unable to resist making some contrasts between our country now and the way things were when we were younger.
Roger is an astute observer of the USA and has a keen understanding of the rule of law and I enjoyed a lot listening to his thoughts and insights.
So, as old friends do, we spent some time living in the past, but we spent a lot of time focused on the present and possibly the future.
If you'd like to see a picture of Roger and me, happy to be together and finished with our food, just scroll down a ways.
2. I dashed back to Eugene, found a parking spot in the busy 5th St. Public Market parking lot, and strolled into the market's Eatery area where I met up with Margaret and Jeff for coffee. Michael fell ill and had to cancel.
We were resuming our long habit of meeting for coffee which began in the neighborhood of thirty-five or more years ago.
We had a lot of ground to cover together and we did a most admirable job of it.
We talked about people, alive and having passed, that we have (or have had) long histories with. I very much appreciated getting caught up on what's happening or has happened with people Jeff and Margaret had news about.
We yakked about medical stuff, a nearly unavoidable topic as we grow older.
I was so happy that our reunion today was so easy, that we fell immediately back into the ease and comfort with one another we've known all these years. I could have continued for more hours, easily, and kept yakkin', but we all had other plans coming up and went our separate ways after about an hour and a half or so.
3. I made a mental error this evening. I made a plan to go to the Oregon Contemporary Theater with Sparky (Judy), thinking I had arranged a get together with Francoise and Herb on Saturday.
I was wrong.
I misread a text message and when Francoise called me around 6:30, I discovered that we had agreed to meet on Friday.
Very embarrassing for me.
Fortunately, Francoise was both gracious and understanding and we rescheduled for Saturday evening, but I realized that I'm not used to having as much social activity as I'm enjoying right now and the flurry of activity left me prone to getting mixed up.
So, I picked up Sparky (Judy) and I loved being in a Eugene theater again.
I'd never been to the Oregon Contemporary Theater before and, oh my!, I got to have a great conversation with Sam Arnold-Boyd and find out how her sons were doing and get caught up on other things. I shared a greeting with Dan P. I was ecstatic to have a chance to embrace and talk with Marla N. as I made my way to my seat.
I loved the theater itself, the space, the seating, the feeling of the place.
The play itself, Fresh Snow, transported me to a bar in an unnamed Montana town in the general vicinity of Kalispell and featured some songs and music from the 1980s that was fun. I thought the actors were energetic, were having a blast, and the audience not only laughed a lot, but many gave the performance a standing ovation.
It was opening night so there was a table of food and refreshments available after the play ended.
Sparky and I decided to have our own party and we slipped out of the theater and scooted up to the Bier Stein and shared a platter of delicious, plump chicken wings and continued conversations we had begun on Wednesday and reminisced about our history together in the theater.
How long had it been since I had an evening at the theater followed some time on the town? How long had it been since I stayed out until well after 11 p.m., noshing, yakking, reminiscing, and talking about dreams for the future?
I don't know how long it had been, but it was a ton of fun tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment