Three Beautiful Things 07-24-2025: Good News at the Transplant Clinic, Care For Me is a Team Effort, RIP Chuck Mangione

1. Soon after I arrived at the transplant clinic at Providence Sacred Heart this morning, I learned that my appointment would be with Physician Assistant Natasha Barauskas. I was uplifted. I've met with Natasha about four other times. She's easy to talk with. She's positive. She's very knowledgeable and listens to my questions and comments attentively and responds to them intelligently. (So do the docs I meet with.) 

In other words, while she's not a doctor, she's a superb transplant specialist whom I trust and enjoy. 

We talked at length about the stability of my lab results, the effectiveness of the treatments ordered for me after the biopsy, and what good shape I'm in largely because, through the combined efforts of Dr. Bieber and the care team at Sacred Heart, the treatment of the early signs of organ rejection got underway in a most timely manner. 

Like Dr. Bieber, Natasha Barauskas talked about the early signs of rejection as a fire that needed to be put out and one that could, conceivably, smolder. 

But, right now, things seem stable, stable enough that I will be doing labs every two weeks rather than weekly. 

In two weeks, I'll have the specialty immunologic labs repeated, the ones I had done back in June. One of those tests, Prospera, assesses the risk of transplant rejection. My June 23rd test came in at a very low risk of rejection and we hope the results of my August test will be similar. 

Again, that Prospera test result is evidence of what a good thing it is that treatment began so soon on those early signs of rejection. 

2. I told Natasha Barauskas that I hadn't been worrying about this complication. I wondered if this was an appropriate response or was I in denial. She chuckled and assured me I was not in denial, that she wasn't worrying about my case either, and that she thought it was a great thing that I wasn't worrying. 

Then Helen Hedges, the social worker I've had many conversation with over the last seven years, dropped in (a pleasant surprise) and we talked at length about how much I've benefited over the years from following the doctors' instructions and devoted myself to taking care of myself in the ways they've ordered. 

We also talked about worrying. She seconded Natasha Barauskas' assessment: I'm not in denial! 

When my wonderful conversation with Helen Hedges ended, to my surprise, Natasha Barauskas returned. 

While Helen Hedges and I talked, Natasha had had a meeting with Drs. Murad and Samer about my case to make sure all three of them agreed with Natasha's assessment of my progress and with the plan she proposed moving forward. 

They did agree, with one variation. They collectively decided to prescribe me a medicine that could help stem the protein leaking from my kidney into my urine. 

Natasha told me during our second conversation that this is how the transplant care team works. They always consult with each other about each case to make sure they are seeing everything and are satisfied with treatment plans. 

I found this very reassuring. I already knew that Dr. Bieber is always ready to consult with the team in Spokane about things that feel a bit out of his reach -- for example, it was in consultation with Dr. Murad that he ordered my biopsy -- so I'm glad that the care I'm receiving is a team effort, that no care provider is on an island making decisions alone. 

3. I learned today that jazz muscian and composer Chuck Mangione died on Tuesday.

This news opened the gates for a rush of sweet memories and sadness. 

Back in about 1977-79, I became obsessed with a bunch of jazz musicians who, at least at Whitworth College, were popular at the time. I loved listening to Maynard Ferguson, Bob James, Joe Sample, George Benson, Joe Farrell, Spyra Gyra, The Crusaders, and others, but, for me, the king of them all was Chuck Mangione. 

His song, off of his Main Squeeze album, "(The Day After) Our First Night Together" played over and over in my head all the time back then,  a most welcome so-called ear worm, that made me feel sentimental, lovey-dovey, dreamy, and wistful, along with a host of other feelings. Sometimes, my mind (which has a mind of its own, as Jimmie Dale Gilmore sings) would take a rest from "Our First Night Together" and switch to "Feels So Good" and the results were similar. 

I don't have access very often, nearly fifty years later, to the intoxicating rush of ecstatic feelings I felt so often in my early to mid-twenties, in the early years of being married for the first time. 

Today, however, I clicked on and played "(The Day After) Our First Night Together" and hearing it helped me blow some of the dust off those strong feelings from the late 70s and for about eight minutes I was back in Spokane, working as a very young part-time instructor at Whitworth,  being transported to a stratospheric plane of joy by hearing Chuck Mangione perform at the Spokane Opera House, and enjoying a wealth of friends and friendships. To this day, I bask in the memory of great times, outings, conversations, and meals we enjoyed together. 

While Chuck Mangione rests in peace, his music will help me rest in cherished memories of a couple or three of the most intensely happy years of my life, years that featured Chuck Mangione playing tunes right at the center of it all. 

Three Beautiful Things 07-23-2025: Plumbing Problem Fixed Quickly, Relaxing at the CdA Casino, Errands in CdA

1.  The plumber started his day an hour early. He had a full day starting at 8:00, so asked me if he could check out the unruly water problem under the kitchen sink at 7:00. 

No problem. 

Our kitchen faucet is one attached to a hose and we can pull it out and, say, put water in a container on the counter. Within a minute or two, he identified that the hose leading into the faucet head was loose and in a split second he tightened it and now water no longer went underneath the sink nor into the basement. 

Tiny problem. 

Capable of making quite a mess, though. 

So tiny, the plumber didn't charge me for his work. 

Mostly I was relieved that the repair was so easy and I could use the faucet and sink again. 

I deeply appreciated that he essentially gave me his work as a gift. 

2. I like going to the CdA Casino on Wednesdays. This month, the casino is awarding double points on club members' player card on Wednesdays and I was carrying a food voucher for the month of July in my wallet. 

Uplifted by the good plumbing news, I headed down to the casino, played for a while on a small amount of money, and enjoyed a cheeseburger and fries on the house! 

3. I continued my head clearing trip by fueling up at Costco and buying a bag of fresh vegetables at Pilgrim's in preparation for getting back into the salad making groove again. 

Back home Gibbs and Copper were happy.

I napped. 

I continued to relax and rest up in anticipation of my Thursday trip for an appointment and, I think, more labs at Sacred Heart. 

Three Beautiful Things 07-22-2025: I Feel Like Norm at Cheers, Life Without a Kitchen Sink!, My Kidney is Filtering Pretty Well

 1. Lab Services just off of Emma near Lincoln Way opens at 7 a.m. and this morning I dashed out of the house as soon as I could and arrived for labs shortly after 7.

I walked up to the check-in counter and it was like I was regular at the neighborhood bar -- only I'm a regular at the lab. Ha! The woman who checked me in didn't need to ask my name, only needed to know my date of birth, and she told me I was one of several transplant recipients who come in on a regular basis.

That was kind of fun and my blood draw went smoothly -- today's phlebotomist also recognized me as a regular with the words "you know the drill". 

After completing my lab business, I treated myself to a chocolate croissant -- it was heavenly. -- and a superb latte and soon blasted back to Kellogg. 

2. The plumber couldn't come today -- I held out only the slimmest of hope that he might have an unexpected opening -- so I didn't use the kitchen sink once the whole day and creatively figured out ways to get around it. No problem, but I'll be glad when it gets fixed -- the plumber will arrive Wednesday morning at 7 a.m. 

3. Not being a pro when it comes to kidney transplants, I'm not sure how to read all the test results that came back late this morning and early this afternoon, But, I am familiar with reading the results of the renal panel and the levels of minerals in my blood that the docs test for outside the renal panel.

Today's results look stable and good. At least at the blood filtering level, my kidney is doing a fine job. 

I go to the transplant clinic at Sacred Heart on Thursday, July 24th and I'll see what Dr. Murad (most likely) has to say about the protein in my urine and see what insight he has about how the treatment of rejection is going -- and will he want to continue with weekly labs? How soon will he want to see me again? 

Three Beautiful Things 07-21-2025: Pictures in My Mouth, Two of My Beloved Friends Converse and Join Forces for Cats, The Sour Cream Question

1. In three weeks the dentist will crown the place where I had a decrepit tooth extracted in January, thus beginning the implant process. To have that crown made, all I had to do was submit to having a dental assistant scan, take pictures of my mouth and the area where the crown will go. 

It was easy.

And, in three weeks, with the placement of the crown, this process will come to an end. 

2. Kathy Brainard had to give up her cats, Luna and Copper, as her health declined and she could no longer live in her apartment and I took them in.

That opened the way for Kathy's sister, Roberta, and I to become friends online and for us to meet, in January of 2022, in person in Oakridge, OR at the 3 Legged Crane. I got to meet Roberta's husband, Bruce, too.

It was a great Silver Valley/Whitworth/Spokane get together! 

A few years passed and BOOM!, a few months ago Debi McNamara, an LCC student of mine around thirty-five years ago who then became a wonderful friend, contacted me online after we'd been out of touch for around 25-30 years. 

 

Debi also lives in Oakridge.

Well, lo and behold, in her tireless work to rescue and care for feral and abandoned cats, Debi wondered if Roberta might be able to help her with three particular abandoned cats and today she asked me to give Roberta her phone number. 

I now know they've talked. They have a plan.  I'm blown away that two such important and beloved people in my life, having come to Oakridge on very different paths from one another, whom I know for very different reasons, will now join each other, strength joining with strength, and help these three cats in need. Cats have brought them together and in very real ways brought me together with Debi and Roberta. 

Before my body showed early signs of rejecting my kidney and the intensified monitoring that has grown out of that and before Debbie's time in New York with Adrienne and family grew from a short term to a long term visit, I had hoped to travel to Eugene two weeks ago, fully planning on including Oakridge in my trip to Oregon so I could see Roberta and Bruce again and enjoy an in person reunion with Debi. 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that such a trip will happen sooner than later. 

3. My favorite ingredient in beef (or tofu) stroganoff is the sour cream. 

When I put together the stroganoff we enjoyed at family dinner Sunday night, I followed the recipe to the letter, with the exception of including dehydrated mushrooms which I didn't have. 

I thought the recipe was light on sour cream, but I wanted to see how this stroganoff would taste, even with my doubts about the amount of sour cream the recipe called for.

Today, I twice fixed myself leftovers and amped up the sour cream. 

I liked it, but wondered if the increase in sour cream drowned out some of the other flavors in the sauce.

Balance. 

I will be pondering sour cream some more as I eat the last of the leftovers, probably Tuesday afternoon.

Three Beautiful Things 07-20-2025: Preparing the Stroganoff Sauce, Fixing the Entire Family Dinner, Compression Socks Mesmerize Us

1. Around Wednesday last week, knowing that July 20th would be my day to host family dinner, thoughts about the chuck roast I knew was in our freezer were dancing in my head. Not knowing what I'd do with it, I brought it up to thaw in the fridge. 

On Friday, I decided I'd turn the chuck roast into beef stroganoff, so I cut the roast into bite sized pieces,  salt and peppered them, and marinated them in Beef Better than Bouillon broth, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce over night and on into Saturday. 

On Saturday, I followed most of this recipe from America's Test Kitchen (if it's behind and paywall, but you'd like to have it, contact me and I'll turn it into a PDF and send it to you). 

I slow cooked the sauce for about nine hours from early Saturday afternoon until into the late evening. 

Before I went to bed Saturday night, I refrigerated the stroganoff sauce, knowing that on Sunday the fat from the chuck roast would congeal on the surface and I'd be able to spoon it off. 

2. On Sunday, I fixed the rest of our family dinner meal.

I did in fact spoon the fat off the surface of the refrigerated stroganoff sauce and returned the sauce to the crock pot and let it simmer until close to dinner time. 

I thawed two baguettes from Beach Bum Bakery, baked them for about twelve minutes at 450 degrees, as instructed when I bought them, to make the crust hard, even crunchy. Later, I sliced the baguettes and topped some of the pieces with Trader Joe's Greciann Style Eggplant with Tomatoes and Onions for an appetizer and saved out other pieces to eat with our stroganoff. 

I got out the wok and fried bacon pieces and then dumped a package of green beans on top of the nearly cooked bacon and stir fried the green beans and bacon until they were ready to eat. 

I boiled a package of egg noodles.

I set out two Lemon Snickerdoodles and two Chocolate Chip Cookies from Beach Bum Baker for our dessert. 

It was very enjoyable to prepare and serve S-L-O-W food. 

I took pleasure in knowing that I started fixing the stroganoff Friday night, let the sauce slow cook all day Saturday, and that it simmered until near dinner time on Sunday.

I find that slow cooked meals are relaxing to prepare and always prove to be delicious. 

3. Christy, Carol, and Paul arrived around 5:30. 

Christy fixed them each a root beer and bourbon cocktail. We dove into the appetizers. We sat at the dining table to eat dinner and everyone enjoyed the beef stroganoff and the green beans and bacon. 

The cookies worked beautifully. 

I think I enthralled Paul, Carol, and Christy when I initiated a scintillating discussion of compression socks. 

Three Beautiful Things 07-19-2025: Cooking Ahead, Aging and Sleeping, Craft Beer Nostalgia

1. I rarely reveal ahead of time what I'm fixing for family dinner when I'm the host. So, for now, I'll just say I had a lot of fun Friday evening and today preparing it in the slow cooker and I'm happy to say that with very little effort on Sunday, I'll have dinner ready to serve. 

Tomorrow I'll write about what I did and whether it passed the family dinner taste test . . . . 

2. As I grow older, my sleep at night is more fragmented and I wake up much earlier in the morning than I used to. I rarely have difficulty falling asleep. Often I sleep hard when I first fall asleep and in about an hour or an hour and a half, after a series of wondrous and vivid dreams, I wake up. I feel like I've been asleep for hours and I'm always startled when I check the time and it's often not even past midnight yet. It's at this point or sometimes a bit later that I have sometimes have difficulty going back to sleep and for the next four hours my sleep is off and on, but I always seem to fall into a deep sleep about an hour or hour and a half before I wake up, usually between 5 and 6 in the morning. 

I don't feel as refreshed by sleep at night as I used to. 

I nap more during the day than I used to.

There. 

That's it. 

A dispatch from the Bureau of Aging and Sleeping. 

It's a bureau that accepts no complaints. 

It just reports the way things are.

3. I no longer drink alcohol out of caution because alcohol can interfere with the effectiveness of anti-rejection medicines, weaken the immune system, and increase the risk of side effects. 

But, I still enjoy reading about beer. I check in on the DC Brau website from time to time to see what's happening at my favorite brewery in Washington DC. I follow DC Brau on Facebook and I follow Eugene's Bier Stein as well. (And I follow New Tons. It used to be 16 Tons.)

Today the Bier Stein celebrated its 20th anniversary and I enjoyed reading about the collaboration beers they poured today and the other fun ways they celebrated this milestone. 

I let my mind run wild for a while nostalgically thinking back on all the superb sessions of drinking craft beers I've enjoyed, especially over the eleven or twelve years starting in 2011 when I first visited 16 Tons. 

I just sat here in Kellogg and relished the great beers I enjoyed in Coeur d'Alene, Spokane, Washington, DC, Seattle, Eugene, Portland, New York City, Valley Cottage, Baltimore, Beltsville, Salem, Mass, Wallace, Kellogg, and on the trip Debbie, Gibbs, and I took from Valley Cottage to Kellogg back in September of 2021 when we organized our travel around dog friendly breweries and enjoyed beers everywhere from rural New York to Miles City, MT. 

I can't drink those beers any longer, but the flavors and great smells have stayed with me, as have the great conversations I so often enjoyed with both friends and strangers while delighting in these beers. 

Since I can no longer have those experiences, I'm ecstatic that the memories remain so vivid.

Three Beautiful Things 07-18-2025: Gratitude and No Symptoms, Preparing Already for Family Dinner, A Different Kind of Cowboy?

1.  I deeply appreciated how all day today I read one message or saw one emoji response after another offering encouragement in response to my long-ish update about the complication with my new kidney that I'm working out with the medical pros. 

The support, encouragement, prayers, and appreciation for the update strengthen me and help me immeasurably to maintain my resolve. 

I'd like to add one important fact to yesterday's update.

I've read lists of symptoms that often signal the transplanted kidney rejection. 

I'm not experiencing any of those symptoms. 

If it weren't for the presence of protein in my urine and for the biopsy that was done about a month ago, I'd never know some degree of rejection either is taking place or has taken place. 

I'm not sure if the rejection has been arrested, not sure if I can refer to it yet in the past tense. 

So, aside from being a wee bit weary from the frequent trips over the last month to have blood drawn and meet appointments and have procedures done and aside from my sleep patterns being a bit out of whack, I am doing fine and I continue to be trusting and optimistic that I'm on the right track to having this problem with early signs of rejection resolved. 

2. I am hosting family dinner on Sunday and today I stopped in at Beach Bum Bakery to see if they had some items available that I thought would enhance our upcoming dinner. 

They did and, as a result, I am one trip to the grocery store away from having everything on hand I need to prepare Sunday's dinner, most of which I will cook on Saturday. 

Actually, I started preparing dinner for Sunday this evening by putting the meat for our meal in a marinade for an overnight soak. 

3. This blog is a good place for me to write stuff that's on my mind that turns out to be off the mark. 

So, here's an example: I don't have much experience with reading stories about cattle drives and cowboys and I haven't watched a lot of Westerns over the years. 

Nonetheless, my sense is that Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove is a book that goes against the grain of what one might typically expect from a Western and it seems to me to present characters that don't fit what I understand to be the stereotype of a cowboy. 

As I read more deeply into this novel, I'll see if this thought of mine holds up. 

Three Beautiful Things 07-17-2025: Discussing Early Signs of Rejection with Dr. Bieber, I Found Them!, Pizza and Puzzles

1. I saw Dr. Bieber today. He's the kidney doctor from Kootenai Health I've been seeing since January, 2020. 

We talked at some length today about the early signs of my immune system rejecting my new kidney, how things look now, and what the plan is moving forward. 

I'm going to write at some length recounting, as best I can, our conversation. 

First of all, a vitally important aspect of transplantation is to keep the recipient's immune system from rejecting the new kidney. My immune system recognizes that the transplanted organ is not one I had at birth and its response is to attack it and shut it down -- that is, reject it. 

So, early on, when I received this new kidney, part of the process was to front load my system with a high volume of anti-rejection medicine(s) and to begin my lifelong regimen of taking anti-rejection meds daily. 

As a result, my body's immunity against infection of any kind was greatly diminished. 

From that point forward, and for as long as I am alive, the transplant team at Sacred Heart in Spokane and Dr. Bieber at Kootenai Health, will always be working to strike a balance between keeping enough anti-rejection meds in my system so that my immune system doesn't attack/reject my new kidney, but, at the same time, keeping my immune system strong enough to ward off infection. 

So here's what Dr. Bieber thinks happened in the last few months. It's not uncommon and this problem can be addressed and treated and that's what is happening with me right now.

Two viruses are of concern post-transplant: one is known as the BK virus and the other is the CMV.

My labs a while back revealed a low level presence of these two viruses in my system and so the transplant team lowered my anti-rejection dosage, thus increasing the strength of my immune system, so it could go after these viruses. 

That worked. 

But, my strengthened immune system also detected the unnatural organ in my body and began to do its job of going after my new kidney. 

The doctors caught this rejection activity early on.

This activity is what they and I refer to as early signs of rejection.

I had a biopsy performed. It confirmed that my immune system created some inflammation in my kidney. 

To tamp down that inflammation -- one way to put it would be to say to call off the dogs of immunity -- I went to the Kootenai Infusion Center two days in a row for a couple heavy doses of steroids and then for about five days, ingested an increased dosage of Prednisone that began at a high level and then tapered off until I was back to my regular dosage again. 

If I understood Dr. Bieber correctly today, the way my body is signaling that rejection is or has been under way is through my labs showing an increase of protein in my urine. 

It's atypical. Typically, the body signals this in other additional ways. 

Dr. Bieber hasn't seen a case like this since he was in medical school, but, as he put it, "I'm not a transplant nephrologist" and he is confident that the specialists in Spokane are more familiar with how my body is presenting these early signs of rejection. 

As with so many things in the world of medical treatment, the key to successfully intervening against this rejection is early detection.

That's happened. 

The next course of action is regular monitoring. 

And weekly labs. 

And working with the doctors to strike the right balance between an effective amount of daily anti-rejection meds while working to keep my immune system as strong as possible but not so strong that it's trying to reject my kidney, but strong enough to fend off other viruses (like BK and CMV) and other infections. 

So you might be wondering, while my new kidney has been hassled by my immune system, how is it functioning. 

The answer: really well. 

My renal panel results have been stable and positive. 

The docs aren't alarmed. 

They monitor how things are going.

When needed, they adjust dosages. 

I hope in this blog post I got this all pretty close to being right. 

If not, I'll write corrections in the future. 

2. Debbie wanted me to mail out a couple of items and asked me to look for them "somewhere in my piles of junk". I looked here and there and everywhere, upstairs, main floor, basement, and before I went to the doctor this morning, I found the items! 

I got them ready to mail and went to the Post Office and was very happy to get this little errand completed. 

3. Kidney talk tires me out a bit. 

I had saved myself a few slices of pizza from Tuesday night to relax me when I got home. 

They worked. 

I also hadn't worked Thursday's NYTimes crossword puzzle yet, so I relaxed with it. 

At 7:00, the Friday puzzle came on line and I worked it. 

The pizza and puzzles provided a welcome break from having my mind on medical matters, matters I'm maintaining my optimism about and am hoping my visit to Spokane on Thursday will bolster my optimism.  

 

Three Beautiful Things 07-16-2025: Ed and I Glide Down to Worley, More Swiss Cheese and Mushrooms, Slow Go Wednesday

1. It's not the money. 

I don't spend enough money on a visit to the CdA Casino to affect much in our family life and if I happen to win at the casino, it's always some very modest amount. 

I go to the casino to enjoy the suspense of spinning reels and the relaxation of leaving the other more serious matters of my life temporarily behind and enter into the world of silly sounds and computer generated visuals of the gaming floor. 

I mask up, slip on vinyl gloves, and keep the stakes low so that I can relax.

Today, I picked up Ed around 7:30 and so my visit to the CdA Casino today included the added bonus of yakkin' with Ed on the drive down and back and getting caught up on what's happening these days and offering each other our expert analysis and reasonable, iron clad, absolutely correct opinions 🤣. 

2. I also enjoy dining at the Red Tail Bar and Grill at the CdA Casino at lunch time, Ed and I sat down for a meal. 

I satisfied my recent months long jonesing for Swiss cheese and mushrooms by enjoying a Mushroom and Swiss Cheese burger, an order of fries, and a zero alcohol Michelob. 

More relaxation. 

More pleasure. 

3. I maintained the low key, slow go mood and tempo of the day when I returned home. 

I hadn't worked the puzzles I usually complete in the morning, so I enjoyed completing those.

While working these puzzles, I nodded off several times, unsurprisingly. I didn't sleep many hours last night, so I wrapped up my slow go day by going to bed early, hoping to sleep more hours tonight than I have been recently. 

Three Beautiful Things 07-15-2025: Heating and Cooling Checks Out, All-Star Game at The Lounge, Schwarber Is The Swing Off King

1, I had a good conversations about our heating and cooling system and our furnace with the technician who came to the house to do annual maintenance on both. Everything is spiffed up and operating well. 

2. Seth, Cas, and later on, Tracy, and I had a terrific time together at The Lounge late this afternoon and on into the evening watching the Major League Baseball All-Star game together. 

I devoured about a hundred and fifteen slices of delicious Dominio's pizza and enjoyed drinking about forty-seven cans of Bud Zero non-alcohol beer, or so it seemed. 

The game epitomized the beauty of baseball. The National League scored in a variety of ways, first scratching out a couple of runs early on and then, after a handful of ho-hum innings,  added four more tallies when Pete Alonso sent a three run parabola into the stands and Corbin Carroll launched a solo rocket of his own over the fence. 

Baseball is a game of lulls and surges and after hibernating for six innings, the AL squad woke up and roared to life in the seventh, themselves scoring in a variety of ways. Brent Rooker crushed a three-run roundtripper and Maikel Garcia turned a walk, a stolen base, an error, and an infield groundout into a run, and the awoken AL was within striking distance of the lead.

In the ninth, I loved how Byron Buxton and Bobby Witt Jr. hit consecutive opposite field doubles just inside the right field line and how Witt scored in the most small ball way possible when Steven Kwan legged out a weak chopper to third base for a game-tying RBI. 

3. No one else scored and with tonight's tilt tied at 6-6 after nine, the two teams each sent three batters to the plate. Each batter got three swings and earned a point for each home run he hit. The team who piled up the most points would win the tiebreaker and the 2025 MLB All-Star game. 

Kyle "I'm just here to have fun" Schwarber turned having a good time into earning the title of the game's Most Valuable Player by parking all three of his swings deep into the Atlanta night, earning the NL three of the team's tie-breaker winning four home runs, and a 4-3 Swing Off/Mini Home Run Derby victory. 

Our night in The Lounge featured a lot of first-rate yakkin' about baseball in the past and the present, travel, work, scammers, grandchildren, and a host of other topics, yakkin' made possible by the leisurely rhythms of a baseball game, the stretches of inaction between innings, and our enjoyment of one another's company. 

 

Three Beautiful Things 07-14-2025: Go Slow, Cooling Down the House, A Convenient Salad

1. Byrdman introduced me to the idea that, as we age, the sixties are the go go years, the seventies are the slow go (or is it go slow?) years, and the eighties are the no go years. 

I sure felt the go slow today as I worked my way from the upstairs to the main floor to the basement getting the house straightened up, swept, and vacuumed in preparation for having a routine check up/maintenance job done on Tuesday on our heating/cooling system and furnace. 

Slow. Slow. Slow. Rest. Rest. Rest. But, I got almost everything done as I worked away most of the day. 

2. The upstairs and the main floor were warm enough that I cooled them off with our cooling system before I worked in them and that turned out to be a good way to make sure they were working pretty well before the technician arrives on Tuesday. 

3. I had made a big vegetable and apple salad over the weekend and on a day when I was mostly cleaning house (and taking breaks), having that salad fixed and ready to munch on made my day much easier. Around dinner time, I added Greek seasoned chickpeas packed in oil to the salad and that worked really well. 

Three Beautiful Things 07-13-2025: Preparing Food for Family Dinner, Christy's River Tale, Sweet Memories from 2014-17

1. Today was a very busy day for Carol and Paul -- church, Paul preaching, a church meeting, a matinee performance at the Sixth Street Melodrama and Theater, and family dinner. 

Aware of all of this, Christy, tonight's dinner host, asked me to prepare two offerings for dinner and asked Carol and Paul to bring wine. 

Simple enough.  

Christy assigned me to bring an appetizer and a rice dish and told me she was making a citrus chicken dish and hoped what I brought would go well with the chicken. 

I had quite a bit of celery on hand, so I took out a bowl and mixed together whipped cream cheese, sour cream, bacon pieces, shredded cheddar cheese, green onion, and Everything but the Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend, filled each celery stalk with this mixture, and then sprinkled more Everything blend on top of them. 

For my rice dish, I dreamed up a dish rather than using a recipe, for the most part. 

I used a recipe to make creamed spinach.

To meet Christy's request, I didn't technically make a rice dish, but, to me, couscous can act like rice even though it's a unique kind of pasta. 

So, I made a white sauce, wilted a bag of spinach, combined the sauce and the spinach and then I cooked u all the couscous I had on hand. 

I layered the creamed spinach and the couscous and I was very happy with how it turned out and I think it was a good compliment to Christy's chicken dish. 

2. Christy reported on the river float several of her classmates took on Friday on the CdA River and shared the good news that one of the floaters made a mistake and found himself separated from the rest of the group. 

After a period of anxiety, things worked out and he rejoined the Classs of 73ers. 

Christy didn't float (I wouldn't have either! I'll never float again!), but she and others who stayed on dry land joined with the floaters for a fun potluck in the afternoon. 

3. As we talked more over dinner, the subject of Baltimore came up and suddenly a rush of stirring memories swamped my mind. Some of them involved Baltimore, but, overall, I was reliving those great three years of living in Maryland, exploring Washington, DC,  New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Virginia, and I thought and talked a bit about some things I didn't do, feeling some regret, but knowing there was no way I'd be able to do everything I could have done. 

So I focused more on the fun and energizing things I did do, mostly within myself. Those thoughts included things as simple as going to senior water aerobics, walking to the Greenbelt library, and having many fun meals with Molly, Hiram, and family. 

Three Beautiful Things 07-12-2025: Life with Gibbs, *Lonesome Dove* and Self-Examination, Tofu is Back

1.  I attribute Gibbs' readiness to bark at people walking by, delivery people coming to our porch,  Copper on the other side of the pet gate, neighborhood dogs on the other sides of our back yard, and sometimes just at a breeze bending grass not to a character flaw, but to a virtue. He's earnest. In his own Maltese-Shih Tzu way, he's acting as a service dog, barking warnings. 

I do my best to as soon as I can to discourage Gibbs from barking too long in the back yard.

Recently, he's been remarkably cooperative with my efforts. 

I never yell at Gibbs and if I stand on the porch and, in a conversational voice, call his name, lately he's been really good about coming to me.

It helps that I'm also offering him Swiss cheese. 

I've been on a Swiss cheese jag for a few weeks.

Gibbs has joined me. 

Lately, he'd rather eat a few small pieces of Swiss cheese in the kitchen than bark his brains out in the back yard. 

2. One thing I'm experiencing while reading Lonesome Dove relates to Socrates' dictum that "the unexamined life is not worth living." 

This novel is moving me to self-examination in an unexpected way, through the observations and thoughts of Lorena Wood, who, for much of the Part I of this book, has been the prostitute at the Dry Bean Saloon.

Lorena is very perceptive, especially when it comes to the character weaknesses of men in general, but of one man in particular, Jake Spoon. 

Her observations have little to do with sex, but much more to do with immaturity, dependence, broken promises, flattery, manipulation through deception, and other similar qualities that Jake Spoon manifests, but so do other men in this story. 

Lorena has moved me to examine similar qualities in myself, especially as I reflect on my past and what I've done as I've aged to at least try to mature, be more independent, keep my word, eschew manipulation, and, generally be a more balanced and consistently kinder and more reliable person. 

When I started reading this book, I wasn't expecting to be putting it down as often as I do to have quiet periods of self-examination, but that's one of the very welcome effects Lonesome Dove is having on me. 

3. For the first time in months, tonight the stir fry I fixed in the wok included tofu. I've been enjoying tofu for about forty years now and I really don't know why I'd gone so long without having purchased and cooked it before tonight -- especially because it's really good for me and my kidney health. 

Three Beautiful Things 07-11-2025: Morning Walk, Return to the Lounge, The Soul of a Poet

1. After a day off on Thursday, I was was up walking this morning around six o'clock and enjoyed being in deep shade and cool air as I went up to the high school and back home via Jacobs Gulch Road. My hope at this point is to walk at least a mile on my walking days and my Fitbit told me at the end of the day that I walked just over a mile and half today. I'm happy with that. 

2. Have I written about why I try to avoid being in places where people smoke cigarettes? And why it is that I wear a mask if I go to a casino with smoking areas?

The concern is that if a smoker happens to be carrying something contagious, exhaling cigarette smoke broadcasts the contagion out widely. 

This afternoon, Ed called me and wondered if I'd like to go up to the Lounge with him for a beer. 

(For me, "for a beer" means drinking a non-alcoholic one so as not to compromise my anti-rejection medications.)

I did and I had a great time yakkin' with Ed, Cas, Fitz, and Brett F. 

I was a little bit anxious because about four or five people were smoking, but I decided to take my chances, hoping none of them were sick -- or, if they were, that I have enough horsepower in my immune system to fight it off.

I hope I'll be all right physically, because it was uplifting for my spirits to be with the guys I yakked with today and to be back in the Lounge again.

3.  So far, Lonesome Dove features one black character/cowboy. His name is Deets. 

I loved a passage featuring Deets that I read today. He and another character/cowboy, Dish, are guarding a pen full of horses. It's an all night job. After a while, Dish leaves his post, leaves Deets, having grown so restless with sexual desire that he has to go to the Dry Bean, the local saloon, hoping to satisfy himself with his favorite prostitute, Lorena. How that works out is another story altogether. 

So Deets is alone with the horses.

And the moon. 

As Deets admires the moon, Larry McMurtry gives us a listen to Deets' inner voice. We've learned earlier that Deets doesn't read or write, but in this passage of the novel, within himself, Deets expresses himself poetically and romantically as he muses upon his lifelong love of the moon, its mystical qualities, its eternal state of inconstancy and flux. 

If we were, as we read this novel, to experience Deets only in terms of his external appearance and by the words he speaks out loud, we'd hardly know that his is the soul of a poet. 

Along with being a superb story teller, it's this kind of deep and often surprising exploration of his characters that is helping me see what makes McMurtry such a highly respected novelist. 

I didn't expect to be moved by a tiny part of this huge novel dealing with one cowboy's horniness and another cowboy's willingness to guard horses alone through the night under the light of the moon. 

Three Beautiful Things 07-10-2025: Stable Labs, My Pill Schedule, One Day On -- One Off For Now

1. Nurse Jenn messaged me today and reported that this week's labs looked stable and that Dr. Murad would like to continue to increase the levels of Tacrolimus in my blood. So he raised my dosage one half of a mg. 

2. After my exchange with Nurse Jenn, I realized my pill box was empty and so I filled it for the next week and made the change she instructed me to make. 

I realized, as I filled my box, that I'm the only person, say, in our family, who knows what medications I'm taking and the dosage. 

I'm going to figure out a way to create a list of the various medicines and over counter pills and the dosage I take each day that I can carry with me -- in my wallet, I guess.

But today I decided that Christy and Carol should have this list and should know the numbers to call if I have problems or something happens and I can't call the transplant clinic myself.

With Debbie staying in New York indefinitely, I realized I would need my sisters' help.

So, this evening, I typed out a chart showing what pills I take in the morning, at noon, and in the evening and sent both Christy and Carol a copy with an email outlining some other information. 

That eased my mind. 

3. I actually hope this changes before long, but right now I'm on a one day on, one day off morning walking schedule. After my jaunt on Wednesday at the Medimont Trailhead and after accumulating some more steps at the casino and Trader Joe's, I woke up today with rubbery legs and I rested them. I'm hoping that by next week I'll feel fit enough to walk about a mile or so daily. 

 

Three Beautiful Things 07-09-2025: Walking Near Cave Lake, Breakfast and a Little Luck, Eating Like It's 1982-3

1. I spent a couple of hours or so until about 7:30 this morning tidying up the kitchen, taking care of Gibbs and Copper, and getting ready to head out the door. 

I'd read in a review from a biking business that the Medimont Trailhead on the Trail of the CdAs featured a stretch of shady trail as well as great views of Cave Lake. 

Because of my general intolerance of direct sunshine and heat, I perk right up whenever I read about shady trails.

To beat the heat, I left the house early-ish (my household jobs took longer than I planned) and when I arrived at the trailhead, it was, indeed, cool and shady and so, limited by the after effects of the slump I was in, I walked about 3000 or so steps out on the trail and back to the car again. Today I walked in an easterly direction and next time I go down, I'll try westerly.

2. Carol and Paul asked me to pick up a couple of boxes of theater programs at the Fed Ex office in CdA today, so to get there I decided to once again drive to St. Maries, go through Heyburn State Park to Plummer, and head north on Hiway 95. 

I hadn't eaten anything yet, so I stopped at the CdA Resort and Casino and refreshed myself with breakfast at the Red Tail Bar and Grill. 

After I ate, I played just three machines, won a little money which I will add to my Pendleton fund, and returned to the Camry and blasted north to CdA where I picked up Carol and Paul's theater order and stopped in to buy produce and rice and some tuna at Trader Joe's.

3. God only knows why what I'm about to write has stuck with me for over forty years, but here goes.

Back at Whitworth, I remember Bill Davie talking about what he fixed himself for meals as a student living in an apartment and how much he enjoyed making a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and folding in a can of tuna.

This evening, I didn't have any boxes of mac and cheese in the house, but I had some twisty pasta, shredded cheddar cheese, shredded parmesan cheese, butter, and Frank's hot sauce. 

So, I boiled the pasta, poured the cheeses over it, added in a chunk of butter and as it melted, I folded in a can of tuna. To give this inspired-by-1982-3-Bill Davie dish a kick, I splashed hot sauce over the top. 

If I'd had a can of black beans on hand, I would have added some beans to this dish, but I'm happy to say that, as it was, this little creation of mine brought back fun memories of apartment living in N. Spokane (Bill and I lived across N. Colfax Rd from each other) and, moreover,

it worked! 

  

Three Beautiful Things 07-08-2025: "You're Just Chill", My Reward, Couscous Stir Fry

1. For some reason, one that I can't explain, but that is a huge relief, having needles inserted into my skin and veins doesn't bother me at all.

I couldn't begin to say how many times I've had blood drawn in the last ten years. Since 2015, every month I was active on the transplant list, I had blood drawn at least once a month and, since the transplant, I've never gone more than two weeks before it was time for another blood draw. 

Right now, I'm on a weekly schedule. 

I bring this up because twice in the last three weeks, the person poking me had trouble getting the vein they chose to cooperate. 

The first time was when I got my first steroid infusion.

The second time was today. 

Today the guy at Kootenai made two unsuccessful stabs, one in each arm, and then he did the right thing.

He found the woman who drew my blood a week ago. She remembered exactly where she'd poked me last week, repeated that poke, and PRESTO! my blood flowed generously out into the vials. 

I've had this same experience in Eugene, Springfield, Greenbelt, Kellogg, Spokane, and now Coeur d' Alene. 

Each time the first (or second or third) attempt didn't work, I was unruffled, patient, trusting, and calm -- and, as I believed would happen, each time things worked out fine.

The woman who succeeded today apologized for my trouble when she was done. 

I responded, "It's no problem."

I liked it when she then said, "You're just chill, aren't you?"

"I guess so."

2. I had one more deposit to provide for the lab.

I succeeded. 

Ah! 

Then I purchased my modest reward.

I strolled just outside Lab Services to Big Blue Coffee. 

I hadn't eaten for nearly thirteen hours and I didn't drink any black coffee before I hit the road this morning. 

So I was primed to snack on a chocolate croissant and sip a 16 oz latte.

They made me very happy.

3. Back home, inspired by today's successful phlebotomist, I chilled. 

My most ambitious accomplishments were reading some more Lonesome Dove and fixing another terrific stir fry in the wok, this time combining shrimp, broccoli, onion, yellow pepper, green beans, and couscous. 

I filled a bowl and topped my creation with a combination of Hoison sauce and Soy sauce. 

It worked. 

Three Beautiful Things 07-07-2025: Revisiting a Daily Childhood Walk, Breaking Out of a Reading Slump, The Wok Rocks

1.  After the biopsy on my kidney and then during subsequent two days of infusions of steroids and a few days after that of increased Prednisone dosage, my sleeping patterns got out of whack and I experienced a temporary loss of energy -- a slump. Fortunately, this slump was physical. I wasn't experiencing depression, thank goodness. 

Recently, I've felt myself getting back in whack again. 

Along with having energy and motivation return, I also have felt a most welcome urge to get my body moving again. 

We are in the grip of longer days, more sunshine, and warmer weather and when I go out to walk, I need to be not in the sun and out of the heat. 

So, this morning, shortly after 5:30 a.m., I walked the route on Riverside Ave that I used to stroll to get from home to what used to be Sunnyside Elementary School and then returned home on Cameron Ave. 

For most of the 40 minutes I was out, the sun hadn't come out and the air was cool.

It was a very satisfying stroll.

2. That slump I was in also repressed my desire to read.

Today, I returned to Lonesome Dave and as some of the characters rounded up a herd of horses in Mexico in the dark of night and moved them north back to Lonesome Dove near the bottom of Texas, I read passages describing opposite qualities co-exisiting in one particular character and read another passage describing the chaos when a herd of horses heading into Mexico come into conflict with the herd leaving Mexico. 

Both passages struck me as Shakespearean. 

The deeper I move into this novel, the more I am experiencing Larry McMurtry's genius and depth.

3. I cooked both breakfast and dinner in the wok today. For breakfast, I heated up the oil, cooked up sliced mushrooms and a handful of fresh spinach leaves. I also heated up a lump of left over jasmine rice. I turned down the heat and folded two broken eggs into the rice, mushrooms, and spinach and, as the eggs got solid, I put a slice of Swiss cheese over the mixture and, once it melted, I took it out of the wok and enjoyed my meal.

For dinner, I thawed a couple of chicken tenders, chopped them up, and then combined the chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, and celery in the wok and once they were nearly done I added left over jasmine rice from last night. I put this mixture in a bowl, splashed soy sauce over it, and began to think that I could see myself doing most of my cooking day to day in this wok -- and wondering why I haven't! 

Three Beautiful Things 07-06-2025: I Stayed Home, Rest and Refreshment, Satisfying Meal Out of the Wok

1. I gave serious thought to taking a drive this afternoon, but then I decided I would rather not be a part of the busy holiday weekend traffic -- why should I add my vehicle to the high volume of activity on the roads and to the congestion on I-90 when I didn't really have any where I needed to be.

So I stayed home. 

2. It turned out that staying home was a solid move. Our family activities on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were all good, happy occasions. At the same time, well, they left me in need of rest and refreshment!

3. I added to my refreshment by cooking up a very satisfying dinner in the wok: shrimp, mushrooms, zucchini, yellow pepper, and celery served with jasmine rice. I was in the mood for soy sauce and a few splashes enhanced this bowl of simple and very delicious food.  

Three Beautiful Things 07-05-2025: Bucky's Dedication (Baptism), Lunching on Leftovers, Quiet and Sleepy Saturday

1. With a threat of rain hanging over the morning, Paul decided that rather than dedicate (that is, baptize) Buchanan in the Roberts' back yard, that Paul, Carol, Cosette, Taylor, Saphire, Christy, Zoe, Buchanan, and I would meet at the Mountain View church and that Paul would conduct the rite indoors and in the  space so familiar to our family, the space where Taylor and Cosette were married. 

That continuity worked. 

Zoe was the morning's camera operator. 

Paul handed us each a passage from the Bible to read, all tied together by the theme of raising a child in the embrace of God. 

Paul gave a short talk and he pressed water to Bucky's forehead and connected his mom, dad, and sister together with Bucky by pressing water on their foreheads as well. 

2. This was our third day in a row of family celebration: Carol's birthday, Independence Day, and now Bucky's dedication.

We had a generous spread of food left over from Thursday and Friday and we enjoyed lunching on it at Carol and Paul's house after the service. 

3. I returned home, settled into a quiet day of acrostic puzzles and I completed the Sunday NY Times puzzle (it was available at 3 this afternoon) and grabbed a few quick naps here and there. 

Copper and Gibbs joined me as they, too, had quiet days and grabbed a few naps themselves. 

 

Three Beautiful Things 07-04-2025: Holiday Racket, Family Barbecue, Memories of October 2010

1. I never really know from one kaboom, pop, kabang, whistle, crack holiday to the next if the current one will be the one in which Gibbs or Copper or both of them cross over from oblivious and unbothered by all the noise into a zone of high anxiety. I spent hours on a bed behind a closed door with the Corgis, holding and petting them while they shook nervously at the sound of firecrackers, fireworks, and God only knows what other sources of booms, crashes, and thrumming. 

I always wonder if the next holiday of din will be the one that finally pushes our pets over the edge. 

The crossover didn't happen tonight.

Gibbs only barked when every once in a while a person walked in front of the house. 

Otherwise, he just peered out the east living room window and occasionally glanced over at me. I might be projecting, but I think his face was asking me, "What is all this senseless noise?"

Copper chilled. 

He didn't respond once to the racket. 

2. Paul barbecued brats and corn on the cob. Christy brought potato salad. I brought beans. The table also featured chips and a fruit salad. We had leftover pie and cake from Carol's birthday and Zoe made a delicious batch of homemade ice cream. 

We enjoyed our holiday meal on the Roberts' patio.

3. During our conversations tonight, I found myself suddenly trying to piece together the very difficult time Debbie and I experienced, especially in 2009, but that carried over on into 2010 and beyond. We got through it and so did family members who had rough times, but pinpointing when specific things happened was, at the dinner table for me, impossible.  

One thing that came up: Carol said something about WHEN Olivia and Molly visited Kellogg not long after Olivia had started walking. 

What? 

I was stumped. 

I had no memory whatsoever of Molly and Olivia coming to Kellogg. Carol said it was in the fall -- so it would have had to have been in the fall of 2010.

So, later, I consulted my trusty blog.

Ah! 

Right!

October, 2010. 

Debbie, Molly, and Olivia made a weekend trip to Kellogg. 

I stayed behind in Eugene. 

Then I read in my blog that on their way home, Debbie, Molly, and Olivia picked up Charly, who had been living for I don't remember how long in New York, at the Portland Airport. 

So, not only was this the weekend when Olivia got to meet Mom and the rest of the family in Kellogg, it was the weekend we were reunited with good old Charly. 

I'm really glad I had a written record of all that!  

Three Beautiful Things 07-03-2025: Carol's Birthday Party, Beach Bum Bakery Visit, Beans in the Crock Pot

1. Today was Carol's birthday! 

She told the rest of the family that she wanted a smorgasboard of meats, cheeses, breads, cut vegetables. crackers, and other finger-y foods and a German chocolate cake for her birthday dinner. 

So that's what we had out on the patio. April and Eric attended. Cosette, Taylor, and Bucky arrived today from Moscow. Zoe had arrived earlier in the week. 

We settled into the generous spread of food laid out on the table, had fun watching Carol and listening to her open gifts (some required explanation and readings), and enjoyed Zoe's perfectly baked cake along with having the choice of Zoe and Carol's freshly baked apple pie. 

2. Much of my contribution to the birthday smorgasboard came from Beach Bum Bakery where I purchased Sourdough Focaccia bread and a Honey Challah loaf -- and Debbie and I gave Carol a Beach Bum Bakery gift card as her birthday gift. 

3. I had been soaking a pound of white beans all day long. When I arrived home, I put the beans, water, molasses, brown sugar, chopped onion, and bacon into the crock pot so that my contribution to our 4th of July barbecue could cook on low overnight. 

Three Beautiful Things 07-02-2025: Go Driving, Modest Casino Success, Back Home

1. I was in the mood to hit the open highway, contemplate some things, listened to *Deadish* and, without a plan, see where I ended up. 

It turns out I headed west to the Rose Lake exit, drove south on Hiway 3 to St. Maries, drove west on Hiway 5 to Plummer, turned north on 95, and dropped in to see how things were looking at the CdA Casino. 

2. I played machines for a little while, left the casino with some winnings, and so made a modest contribution to my Pendleton envelope as I save up for our trip there in about three months. 

3. I stopped in CdA to fuel the Camry, buy some food for Carol's birthday party and for my own salads at Trader Joe's, and cruised back to Kellogg on I-90. 

It was an uneventful, low key, even restful outing, the sort of solo drive I hadn't made in quite a while.  

All my solo driving over the last year or so has been focused on medical trips.  

Three Beautiful Things 07-01-2025: Nine Page Lab Order!, June 23rd Lab Results Look Good, Remembering *Short Cuts*

1.  I was up and at 'em first thing this morning to get cleaned up and to get Copper and Gibbs ready for me to blast off to Kootenai Health for labs. 

I'm on a once a week blood draw schedule again for the time being. 

I find all of the staff who work the counter at Lab Services very helpful, but I am especially happy when   an employee named Deborah is available to check me in. 

She looked up my order among the faxes transmitted to her computer, found the one Dr. Murad had faxed in for me on June 23rd, and for a second the color drained from her face. 

"It's nine pages long," she said, smiling bravely.  "Have a seat and I'll get your order entered. It'll take a while." 

No problem. 

She then alerted her fellow counter worker that she'd be working on a nine pager and would be occupied for a while. 

She patiently and carefully entered the orders. 

I got called in. 

Everything worked out perfectly. 

About fifteen minutes later, I was seated in the lobby outside lab services enjoying a chocolate croissant and a superbly prepared latte.

2. As I've mentioned before, the doctors I work with are  assessing some signs that have popped up of early rejection of my transplanted kidney. 

I've also mentioned that not one of the kidney pros appears alarmed. 

I saw Dr. Murad last Monday (June 23) at the transplant clinic and after our visit he sent me to the hospital lab for a handful of tests that can't be done at Kootenai. He told me the results would take a bit longer than my routine tests take. 

So, today, I messaged Nurse Jenn (my nurse coordinator at the transplant clinic) and asked her if all the June 23rd results had arrived yet. 

She replied immediately. 

Yes. In fact, the last result had just arrived. 

She liked what she saw: things look stable and she used the words "great" and "double good". 

Before too long, Dr. Murad will also study these June 23rd results and the results of today's blood work and then I'll find out if he wants to change any of my medications or any of my dosages. 

In summary, at this point, on July 1, 2025, as I understand it, things look encouraging in my little world of  transplantion and some complication. 

I sure hope I'm right! 

3. This evening my mind  wandered back to about 1993 or '94. As it does so often, I wandered back to the Bijou theater in Eugene and got to thinking about the three hour Robert Altman masterpiece, Short Cuts. The movie features an incredible ensemble cast of actors ranging from Lily Tomlin to Jack Lemmon to Lyle Lovett to Buck Henry. It blends together a whole bunch of story lines and examines multiple aspects of life in suburban Los Angeles. 

I remember it being an emotionally demanding movie and a marvel of improvisational development. 

It's dumb for me to feel this way, but I really wanted to leave the house and go the a local art house and just watch whatever independent movie was playing from whatever country it was made in.

That experience is unavailable in Kellogg. Or CdA. I don't know what's playing at the Magic Lantern,  my favorite Spokane movie theater from 1974-78 and 1982-84. 

For now, though, I'll dial up Short Cuts one of these afternoons or evenings and groove on Robert Altman while, at the same time, allowing myself to be disturbed by what I'm watching. 

Three Beautiful Things 06-30-2025: No Timetable, Deborah Uplifts Me, I Won't Go to the Oregon Country Fair

1. Today Debbie called me from a Wegmans parking lot in Montvale, NJ and I suddenly had fun memories of when I used to drive south from Greenbelt, MD to Lanham, MD or drive north to Columbia, MD and go to Wegmans just for the fun of it. Wegmans is grocery chain with stores in nine eastern states and the District of Columbia. I enjoyed wandering around in Wegmans, sometimes eating lunch or a snack there, and just taking in the smells and sights. 

Debbie called to catch me up a bit on things and I extended my full support when she told me she has no timetable for when she'll return to Kellogg. 

Copper, Gibbs, and I will continue to hold down the fort while Debbie is away. 

2. My longtime and close Whitworth and beyond friend, Deborah, wrote me an email today that uplifted me, that gave me food for thought that I thoroughly enjoyed, and that described how she and Scott had enjoyed a stir fry dinner very similar to our family dinner Sunday out of the wok. 

3. Today was a good day for correspondence with longtime friends. Not only did I hear from Debbie and Deborah, but I also heard from Jeff, my longtime and close friend in Eugene (and host of Deadish). 

Because the Troxstar's retirement party is on July 11th, I'd planned to attend it in Eugene. 

But, because of the closer monitoring of my new kidney these days and because Debbie will be in New York indefinitely, I canceled those plans. 

I wrote an email to Jeff telling him I wouldn't be down. 

Dang it! 

I'd told Jeff earlier in the spring that my hope was to come to Eugene, go to the retirement party, and, for the first time since 1993, head out to the Oregon Country Fair. 

Jeff snagged me a VIP pass for the fair and now I won't be using it. 

Sometimes kidneys and family obligations just get in the way of other stuff, but I'm going to hold out hope, the good Lord willing, that maybe next year I can wander down to Eugene, join Jeff at the fair, and be admitted as a Very Important Person -- after all, that's what it says on the pass!