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.