Three Beautiful Things 10-30-2025: New York News, Playing with Soup, Classic Rock

 1. I don't know why, but I stayed home and didn't do much today. Debbie updated me on what's happening in New York over the next week. I don't know when she'll return to Kellogg. That's no problem. I'm happy she'll spend some time in Manhattan, see her cousin Sally, be a part of Adrienne's birthday celebration on Saturday, and continue to spend time with Misty. 

2. I made another small pot of chicken soup, almost identical to the one I made on Tuesday. I increased the amount of tarragon and I added some liquid aminos. I thought, and chuckled while I thought it, that this combination might not work in a restaurant, might work at family dinner, but definitely worked for me. 

3. Do you ever suddenly get in a mood to listen to Steely Dan, Deep Purple, and AC/DC? I did this evening, not long before I went to bed, and it was thrilling. If only I could still drink alcohol! Steely Dan moved to want to "drink Scotch whiskey all night long" and keep playing music from about fifty years ago and forward. 

I didn't do that. 

Thunderstruck, I took my blood pressure, scooped Copper's litter box, took care of my teeth, and put on SiriusXM's channel called Classical for Sleep, and Copper and I visited the Land of Nod. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-29-2025: Clean Bill of Dental Health, Breakfast and Winning Wednesday, Toronto Wins Game 5

 1. My day started off with an 8:00 dental cleaning and assurance that my home care of my teeth and gums is working. My dental health is solid. In addition, the tissue in the area of the recent implant looks very healthy and the implant itself is firmly in place, working as it should.  

2. I came home and took care of Gibbs and Copper and then I launched the Camry rocket over the 4th of July Pass and into Coeur d'Alene. I enjoyed a hearty breakfast at the Breakfast Nook and then re-launched the Camry rocket down Hiway 95 to the CdA Casino.

I enjoyed another Winning Wednesday. 

I had a great time trying out machines I'd never played and going back to several old favorites. 

For me, as a player, it was not a Winning Wednesday, but I shrugged it off. I had fun, saw Terry and Jane Lennon a couple of times, and added quite a few points to my player's card. 

3. I returned to Kellogg after a quick shopping stop at Trader Joe's. 

I collapsed. 

I took a long late afternoon/early evening coma nap and woke up to the news that Toronto had jumped out to an immediate lead over the Dodgers, a lead they added to and never surrendered. 

The World Series returns to Toronto and if the Blue Jays can win one game at home, I'll be able to cash in my wager on them and even recover the money I spent today with more dollars left over.   

That would be fun because Ed would win his wager, too, and we'd make a trip together to the Spokane Tribe Casino, cash in, and spin reels. 

But I'm not seeing this as a done deal. The Dodgers are formidable and, even at home, it will be a very challenging task for Toronto to win one game and win this World Series. 

I sure hope Toronto succeeds. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-28-2025: Do Dogs Make Decisions?, Sprinkling System Winterized, Warming Chicken Soup

1. After Debbie had been gone for about three or four days, Gibbs realized that my chair (with me in it) and my lap are available for him. The last time Debbie left, Gibbs came up into my chair and shared it with me and often jumped off after a short period of time. 

That's changed. 

Do dogs make decisions? 

Do dogs go through a thought process that leads them to conclusions? 

I don't know. 

So I can't say that Gibbs has decided to not only jump on my chair, but on my lap, and, well, decided(?) to nap on my lap while there. I can say it's what he does. 

It's awesome.

Fortunately, while he takes a nap on my lap, I can use my laptop and can write, solve puzzles, read emails, and do whatever I need to while Gibbs softly snores. 

2. This isn't a complaint.

When I need sprinkler service done, I text the guy who does that job. He doesn't respond, but I trust him, knowing that before too long -- maybe a couple of weeks -- I'll get a text from him asking if a certain day and time will work all right for him to come. 

It ALWAYS works out. 

Today, it had been a while since I texted him and I had on my list of things to remember to do that I should drop him another text, just to make sure I was on his schedule. 

Well, I didn't need to write that text because right as rain, he texted me and wondered if it would work for him to come by today. 

My response: "Absolutely."

Not much time passed. 

His truck pulled up. 

He blew out our sprinklers.

He'll send me an electronic bill. 

I'll pay. 

And I will continue to trust his good work and his reliability, even if his approach is a bit unorthodox. 

3. I was in the mood for soup tonight and I poured about a half a box of chicken stock into a pot and added about three frozen chicken tenders with some fresh tarragon. 

Once the stock had boiled and thawed the chicken, I chopped and added green onion, celery, zucchini, and a carrot, and also added spinach leaves and frozen green beans and corn. 

While the vegetables cooked, I made a simple salad of greens and radishes, ate it, and by then the soup was ready to eat. 

On this chilly evening, this soup worked. Especially the tarragon. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-27-2025: Chipping Away, Crosswords, WOW! Freddie Freeman

 1. All day today I just kept chipping away at tasks: pick up Copper's meds, mail Debbie her EZ Pass transponder, finish doing my laundry, get the kitchen cleaned up, and so on. My list(s) helped me not forget anything major, but I have a whole other list of more things to take care of on Tuesday. 

2. Last week I fell behind working New York Times crossword puzzles and tonight I stayed up until after midnight working away and I got caught up. As happens from time to time, the Thursday puzzle frustrated me because I couldn't insert the rebus answers once I figured out it was part of the puzzle, so I bagged it. I sometimes wonder if I should work Thursday's puzzles on a hard copy with a pencil and eraser so if I discover a rebus I can edit my wrong work. 

If this rebus stuff doesn't make sense, don't sweat it. I don't know how to explain it cogently or efficiently. 

3. So, not even money at stake moves me to be very partisan about the outcome of the World Series. I placed a bet last Wednesday on the Blue Jays because I think it's fun to bet on underdogs. 

I admire several players on the Dodgers -- Ohtani, Betts, Muncy, Kershaw, and, above all Freddie Freeman. My admiration of him reaches back to his years with Atlanta. Last night he did the very thing I've admired him for over the years. He delivered a dramatic home run. he blasted a game winner in the bottom of the 18th inning. It was his second walk off home run in a World Series game in the last two seasons. He's a great player, especially in big situations. 

So, yes, my chances of winning my wager diminished, but even though I wasn't watching the game, I got to feel the thrill of a player I admire prevail. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-26-2025: Success, Comforting Family Dinner, Nashville and Beyond

 1. Making lists is helping my focus and memory. I think I took care of everything I needed to today: I fed Gibbs and Copper twice, including Copper's medication; I fed Gibbs his probiotic pills and his enzyme pill; I remembered to put ointment on Gibbs where he needs it;I bought the right items at Yoke's; I fixed a Strawberry Balsamic salad for family dinner (I forgot to put "include green onions in the salad" on a list and, wouldn't you know it, I forgot to put green onions in the salad); I started a regimen of moisturizing creams, one cream for my feet, another for my lower legs and arms and other skin that might be dry; I did laundry; I remembered to take both rounds of my medications; I scooped clumps out of Copper's litter box. There might be more. 

My point is that I need the daily list or lists to keep myself focused and to help out my memory which is slower and duller than when I was younger. 

2. Paul, Carol, Christy, and I met at Christy's house late this afternoon and enjoyed a comforting family dinner together. Carol and Paul brought cracker, fruit, cheese, and pickled asparagus plates and I brought the Strawberry Balsamic salad. Christy mixed pear cocktails and before long we plunged into Christy's pot of vegetable chowder soup, a most reliable recipe she secured from the sisters working the kitchen at Mount St. Michael north and east of Spokane. I don't know what Christy called the toasty tasty bread she served, but it was sure good. We capped off dinner with a spider trifle for dessert thanks to Carol. 

3. We had plenty to talk about during dinner. Discussing a documentary Carol saw on the world of songwriting and making music in Nashville delighted me as we talked about great musicians and songwriters in the worlds of Nashville country music and branched out a bit to the world of outlaw country -- definitely one of my favorite genres of music. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-25-2025: Elmer's Fountain, Touring Mullan and Pottsville, Burgers at the Outlaw

 1. At about 9:30 this morning, Carol picked up Christy and me and we piled into her car for our October Sibling Outing. 

We headed to East Shoshone County. I still don't quite understand Elmer's Fountain, even after Carol read me a history of it. We took the Gold Creek exit and very near it loomed two tall fountains constructed from steel pipe and metal parts salvaged from mining operations. They're yellow. The website Atlas Obscura describes them as folk art. Atlas Obscura also posted pictures of three fountains, two tall ones and drinking fountain-sized one. Did we miss the smaller fountain? 

2. After gawking at the fountains and poking around the immediate area surrounding them, we piled back into the car and Carol limoed us to the city of Mullan. We drove up and down the hills and streets of this historic mining town and looked at different landmarks and drove by Mullan's two schools and its football field. (The football field reminded me of a painful moment when Mullan's Frank Reed [Reid?] ignored that we were playing flag football and crushed me as hard as I've ever been hit!) I got over it but  never forgot it. 

We had planned to go bowling at 11 at the Morning Club, but our reservation went haywire and the reservation guy told us we could come back in the afternoon. 

We shrugged and headed further east to East Shoshone Park, a place we always called Pottsville growing up in Kellogg. Rain falling kept us pretty much in the car, but we were able to admire the beauty of the park, see the structures still standing where a fish hatchery once operated, and talk about various picnics, outings, and gatherings we enjoyed at Pottsville over the years. 

3. Back in Mullan, we snagged a table at the Outlaw Bar and Grill. The Outlaw is famous, at least locally, for their delicious burgers and we all enjoyed our cheeseburgers and fries. Li.z M. and Becky J., close friends forever, were at the next table over, so Kellogg was well represented at the Outlaw! 

We decided not to go bowling after our hearty lunch and headed back to Kellogg. 

Somehow, this outing left me very tired and I went to sleep soon after walking in the door and wasn't really active doing much of anything until around 5:00. 

Our lunch filled me up enough that I didn't need to fix myself dinner. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-24-2025: Remembering Responsibilities, The Lounge, The Blue Jays Shock Me

1. The one challenge I always face when I am living by myself is to stay on top of the things that need to be done around the house with Debbie gone. Gibbs is taking supplements. Gibbs as been prescribed an ointment to be applied to his hind end. I'm responsible again for measuring out Gibbs' food -- it comes to us in frozen packets. Can I remember to take my medicine? My blood pressure twice a day? To feed Copper and give him his medicine with each meal? It's not that Debbie reminds me to do these things. 

She doesn't. 

That's not my point. 

My point is my aging brain. 

Remembering to do things day to day, especially when I take on added responsibilities, requires me to write things down, put the list (or lists) in plain sight so I don't forget I wrote it/them, and to concentrate, to focus on the fact that I have these responsibilities. 

You see, to quote Jimmie Dale Gilmore, "My mind's got a mind of its own" and if I don't focus or concentrate on what's at hand, my mind wanders off to memories of hot lunch at Sunnyside Elementary or a session of reprimands for which ever of my many, many blunders in life float to the surface or to snapping pictures at Delta Ponds in North Eugene and on and on. 

I did forget a medicine dose once this week. First time since the transplant. 

I forgot to take my blood pressure, too.  

These lapses serve as reminders to get my head back in the game and do what I need to do every single day. 

2. In fact, today, as I was getting laundry done and probably writing out my fourth or fifth list of the day, I forgot it was Friday. 

Ed texted me wondering if I wanted to meet at The Lounge around 4 o'clock.

I snapped back into the present out of whatever fanciful imaginings my wandering mind was indulging and said I would like to do that. 

My Bud Zeros were refreshing. Talking about our trip to the sports book was fun as was having Cas tell me that one of our fantasy baseball league members wagered 4500 dollars on the Dodgers to win the World Series. He made his bet in Las Vegas. 

3. I returned home, fixed myself a vegetarian stir fry with rice and suddenly remembered that I have a wager of my own on the Blue Jays and wondered how tonight's game came out. 

My knees turned into mashed potatoes. 

My heart raced. 

I went into a state of mild shock. 

The underdog Blue Jays flattened the Dodgers in Game #1, 11-4. 

And to think that I walked into the sports book on Wednesday thinking I might place a wager on the Dodgers to sweep the series. 

Fortunately, by the time I went to the counter to make my bet on Toronto, the idea of second bet had floated away. 

I forgot it. 

I'm glad I didn't write myself a note reminding me to make that bet! 

Three Beautiful Things 10-23-2025: Debbie Flies to Chicago, Free Play and the Davenport Hotel, In Search of Pear Juice

1. It was a big day today. 

I drove Debbie to the Spokane airport so she could catch her 11:30 flight to Chicago. She met up with Misty at O'Hare and together they motored north to Roscoe, IL where a weekend family get together is happening, giving Misty more time to get acquainted with her half siblings, cousins, Aunt Debbie, and whoever else might arrive. 

2. Last night, I downloaded the Spokane Tribe Casino app on my cell phone and, as a reward, the casino comped me 20 bucks of free play on the machines. I figured as long as I was just a hop, skip, and a jump from the casino, I'd hop over, have a latte and banana bread, play the money I was comped, and play with a little of my own. After less than an hour of play, I was ahead a modest amount and decided to head to Spokane. It was a short and very enjoyable session. 

I beelined straight to the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture where last Saturday an exhibition entitled, "The Davenport Legacy" opened. It's a two gallery show examining the history and the elegance of the Davenport Hotel. It's a graceful exhibition, providing pictures, artifacts, and information about the history of the hotel and the architectural vision that inspired its construction. It also delves into the restoration project that took place about twenty-five years ago. 

I look forward to reading more about the Davenport Hotel in the exhibition book I purchased and will definitely return to this wonderful show. 

I also want to go back to the exhibition entitled, "Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight" before it closes on January 4th. Debbie and I immersed ourselves in it a few weeks ago. Today, though, time traveling back to turn of the century Spokane and taking in the significance of the Davenport was all I had the energy for. 

3. I stopped in CdA to go in search of pear juice. 

Christy wants some for the cocktail she's making for family dinner on Sunday. I bought grocery supplies at both Pilgrim's and Trader Joe's, but neither story had pear juice. Then I buzzed up to Safeway. No luck. 

Then I had a bright idea. Doesn't Fred Meyer have EVERYTHING? 

Well, it may not have EVERYTHING, but the store on Kathleen carries pear juice and so I completed Christy's request and headed back home to get a few things done and keep Gibbs and Copper company after they'd been alone all day. 

Three Beautiful Things 10=22-2025: Positive Dermatology Visit, Wagering on the Blue Jays, Ed Makes an Excellent Spin

1. I buzzed out to Ed's this morning and picked him up. We had fun planned for later, but first I had an appointment at North Idaho Dermatology. For now, I see the dermatologist every six months to make sure that in my immno-suppressed condition, I'm don't have any cancerous growths appearing on my skin. The dermatologist found no problems -- my many hours indoors out of the sun and my time in the sun with long sleeves and long pants paid off. My skin is dry, though, and he recommended lotions for me to purchase to moisturize my feet and lower legs, in particular, but the rest of my skin, too. 

2. Finished with that appointment, I limoed Ed and me over to the Spokane Tribe Casino. He and I go to the sportsbook there three times a year. We wager on the Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournaments, and the World Series. The Dodgers are huge favorites to win this year's World Series, so if our wagers were going to return us any fun money at all, we needed to bet on the underdog Blue Jays. 

And we did. 

It was quick, easy, and fun. 

3. We spun reels after that. 

I never exhausted the bank I started with and ended up forty bucks ahead and got to play all kinds of machines. That made for a fun day. 

Ed hit a jackpot! I happened to be nearby when it happened. Ed mouthed the words, "I hit a jackpot", so I closed out of the machine I was on and dashed over to see what he'd spun to win this great pot.  I can't really explain cogently what he did but suffice it to say that Ed made a superbly lucky spin and his good luck rewarded him handsomely.  

Neither one of us felt like making a quick exit since I was hanging in there and Ed had prevailed, but around 4:00 we decided we'd assure ourselves getting back to the Silver Valley before dark and called it a day. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-21-2025: Rich Brock Sends Me a Packet, I Listen to *Deadish*, I Read *Emergency Horse*

 *** In my 10-20-2025 blog post, until I corrected it, I had written that there was very little ENEMA in my lower legs. Now it says l have very little EDEMA, bringing the blog post back into the real world. 

1. I dedicated today to catching up on reading writing or listening to music and poetry that friends have sent to me and I'm far from finished. 

To begin, my Whitworth roommate from the spring of 1975, Rich Brock, and I have been in electronic contact with each other for many years via email and Facebook. He collects automobile license plates. I sent him our Oregon plates when we moved to Maryland and sent him the Idaho plates that belonged to the Subaru until we donated it recently. 

Rich wondered, when he thanked me for the Idaho plates, if I'd be interested in writing snail mail back and forth. I loved the idea. Last week I received his first contribution, a several page account of his new life in Middle Tennessee and a great story recounting when he was fired at KZUN radio of Opportunity, WA back in 1979. 

It was great material and I enjoyed slowly working my way though both pieces and getting to know Rich in ways that were new to me. 

2. Jeff Harrison hosts the radio show Deadish on Thursday nights at KEPW FM in Eugene. Back in late August he sent me a sound file of a show he wanted my response to and for some reason I didn't get to that show until today. The show featured all music from the Grateful Dead playing live on August 28th through the years, starting in 1967 though a show I went to with Jeff at Autzen Stadium in 1988. 

He played excerpts from these shows chronologically, giving listeners a chance to hear how the Grateful Dead's sound matured over the years and how it changed with changes in the band's personnel. 

I enjoyed Jeff's two and half hours of Deadish and thought the idea of developing his radio show chronologically worked beautifully. 

3. I then read almost the entirety of the publication Emergency Horse a stimulating compilation of interviews, poetry, remembrance, satire, current events, and more.  The emergence of Emergency Horse in 2025 is especially cool because it's the revival of a magazine that was first published in Eugene in 1991, became defunct, and is mow enjoying a resurrection. 

My connection to this magazine is through Scott Taylor. We met in the spring of 1982 when he was a student in a section of WR 121 I taught. He was among the original founders of Emergency Horse, is now a member of the editorial board, a contributing writer, and the designer of the magazine. 

Scott mailed me copies of Emergency Horse and today I read his witty and sardonic contribution. 

I read an interview that Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter gave the magazine on Feb. 2, 1992 before he gave a spoken work performance at the University of Oregon's Beall Hall, joined by Beat poet and playwright Michael McClure and The Doors' keyboardist, Ray Manzarek.  Jeff Harrison and I attended this 1992 performance together. The interview with Robert Hunter didn't appear in Emergency Horse in 1992 because Hunter withdrew his permission for the magazine to publish it, but said they could do whatever they wanted with it after he died. Hunter died in 2019 and Emergency Horse secured permission from Robert Hunter's widow, Maureen Hunter, to feature this interview, conducted by the magazine's poetry editor and member of the editorial board, Darrin Daniel. 

There's more. David Weddle wrote about conducting writing seminars at Ken Kesey's farm. There's a ProPublica article on how China feeds the USA's fentanyl market. The late Curt Hopkins, an Emergency Horse founder draws upon his experience growing up the son of a Navy lifer to write about the power of social diversity. 

I haven't finished reading the whole magazine yet. I'm close. It's stimulating me, sobering me, making me laugh, and, in many ways, taking me back to the Eugene I experienced when I was much younger and I'm enjoying that a lot. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-20-2025: Good News at the Transplant Clinic, Lunch at the Grain Shed, Monster Cookies!

 1. When I looked over my lab results last week, I thought they looked stable and strong. Today, when I met with Dr. Poudyal at Sacred Heart, she agreed. In fact, she lowered my dosage of magnesium pills and I will no longer take pepcid. We agreed that I do not tolerate Jardiance. It's gone. (With the team's permission, I quit taking Jardiance about a month ago and Dr. Poudyal could see that my going off of it had no negative impact.) 

Dr. Poudyal also told me that after she read and analyzed my records and the biopsy report from June, she doesn't think my system was starting to reject my new kidney. So, why was there inflammation in my new organ? 

That's a mystery. 

I'm used to hearing that. 

No problem. 

She repeated what three other doctors have said to me: "no need to worry". My new organ is functioning very well. My heart sounds great. My lungs sound great. There's very little edema in my lower legs, if any at all. 

The only prescription Dr. Poudyal gave me was to exercise (walk) regularly. 

I have two specialty labs drawn every three months at Sacred Heart that test whether there are problems with my new organ and whether a risk of rejection exists. I strolled over to the hospital and had those labs drawn when I was finished at the clinic.

I will not return for a visit to the Sacred Heart transplant clinic until May for an anniversary (my two year) examination. 

I will continue to have once a month labs drawn at Kootenai. If any problems surface, they might want to see me again at Sacred Heart. 

I will see Dr. Bieber in Smelterville every three months. 

I welcomed all of this news. 

2. After my post-appointment blood draw, I decided to give the Grain Shed a try for lunch. 

It's located on Newark Street, just off Arthur, on the lower South Hill. 

I knew a little bit about the Grain Shed because way back in the weeks immediately following the transplant when I couldn't drive to my frequent labs and clinics at Sacred Heart, Carol went to the Grain Shed while I was occupied at the medical center. 

She enjoyed it and now I know why! 

It's a hybrid business, actually. It's a combination craft beer taproom and a bakery -- so it combines Grain Shed (the brewery) with Culture Bread Bakery, all under one roof. 

I would have loved to have ordered a Grain Shed beer, but I ordered their non-alcoholic hop water instead. 

I also ordered a turkey, avocado, coleslaw, and red onion sandwich made on superbly baked artisanal wheat bread. 

This isn't a shiny establishment, rather a somewhat rustic one, creating just the sort of atmosphere I really enjoy -- for any Eugene readers, I'd use similar words to describe Sam Bond's, High Street, and The Hideaway. 

3. I had thought about visiting the newly opened Davenport Hotel exhibit at the MAC today, but I'll be taking Debbie to the airport on Thursday morning, and I'll go to the museum then. 

I did decide, however, that a trip to Sacred Heart would seem incomplete if I didn't drop in at Great Harvest. So I motored on Southeast Blvd up to 29th and when I walked into the bakery I immediately saw small bags of Monster Cookies. 

Ah! I came to Great Harvest to enjoy a cookie and now, as a bonus, I could enjoy one here with a cup of coffee and take the rest home for Debbie and me to enjoy at our leisure. 

That's what I did and then I returned to Kellogg for a late afternoon and evening of catching up on the puzzles I didn't work this morning. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-19-2025: Bucky's First Family Dinner, Jambalaya Dinner, Mariners at The Lounge

 1. Debbie and I hosted this week's family dinner, but not at our house. Taylor, Cosette, and Bucky came up to Carol and Paul's for the weekend and we agreed that it would be much more comfortable for all of us to gather at Carol and Paul's. 

How cognizant was Bucky that this was his first family dinner? Ha! His happiness being at the table and being lovingly attended to didn't seem to depend much on his awareness of what a big day this was, but, no doubt, one day when he is older, he'll get to see pictures of what was happening on October 19, 2025 when he was at the table at one of our family dinners for the first time in his young life. 

2. Our dinner was awesome. Tonight's cocktail was a simple rum and coke. Debbie made a couple of terrific appetizers. One was a Triscuit cracker topped with pumpkin hummus and a cucumber slice. The other was a Mexican corn pinwheel. 

Debbie also made a terrific pot of jambalaya. We'd never had jambalaya before at family dinner and some at the table were eating it for the first time ever. Christy brought back her sweet and delicious cornbread and Carol fixed coleslaw that combined flavors from the New Orleans area. We finished this remarkable meal with Christy's delicious Creole bread pudding, a perfect way to top off this Louisiana-y dinner. 

3. After dinner, I drove Debbie home and joined Cas, Aaron, and Doug at The Lounge for an exclusive once-in-a-lifetime private viewing of Game 6 of the ALCS. We were all pulling for the Mariners, but tonight was a tough night for them at the plate and in the field and they lost the game, 6-2.

That was disappointing, but not the yakkin'. We talked about a lot of fun stuff and had some great laughs and left hoping the Mariners could come back and win the series in Game 7.

Three Beautiful Things 10-18-2025: Garage Cleared Out, WOW Hall/Nine Days Wonder Memories, Christy's Soup

1. With the help of Christy, Paul, Carol, and Taylor, our garage is now clear of nearly everything that was in it. Christy, Carol, and Paul took some items home with them. Paul and Taylor took other things to the transfer station to be dumped or recycled or, in the case of paint, disposed of whatever way the county does that. All that was left was our city garbage can, a few yard implements, and some miscellaneous tools hanging on the wall. We have a loft in our garage and our winter tires fit up there. 

I'm very grateful to Christy, Carol, Paul, and Taylor for their help and have been indulging the feeling of relief, of ease, of relaxation I feel when we free ourselves of material things and open up space in our residence, whether in the garage, basement, or rooms in the house. 

2. As satisfying as our minimizing project continues to be, today was also bittersweet. 

It's been around thirty-five years since I started going to Nine Days Wonder shows at the WOW Hall in Eugene. It was a golden age in Eugene for jam bands like Zero, Little Women, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, and others.  

I listened. I danced. I felt nearly pure joy at these shows. 

Well, tonight, Eugene's own Nine Days Wonder returned to the WOW Hall for their second 40 year anniversary reunion show, having played at the Alberta Rose Theater in Portland on Friday night. 

Earlier this year, the band released an announcement of these shows and I thought at the time come hell or high water, I was going to go to both of them. 

The timing turned out to be lousy. Labs last week. Oct. 20th appt. at Sacred Heart. Dermatology appt on Wed. the 22nd. Debbie taking off for Chicago on the 23rd. 

I decided to stay home, take care of business, and I hope to go to Eugene/Portland in the not too distant future when I wouldn't have to rush back and could do what I love to do and stick around for several days. 

So, this afternoon, I indulged in some nostalgia. 

Nine Days Wonder's album, Left of Center, is on Spotify and my favorite song on that album is "On a Corner". 

I dialed it up.

I lay flat on my back and stared at the ceiling. 

I let the song wash over me along with memories and I smiled and felt old thrills as I thought about how I used to whistle or hum/sing the song's featured guitar riff as I drove or walked home after a show. 

It was a deeply satisfying several minutes and I decided to leave it at that. 

My longing to be in Eugene tonight wasn't going to go away and I decided to be economic with my nostalgia and just let "On a Corner" live with me for the rest of the day and evening. 

3. Christy made a batch of Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup and brought Debbie and me a quart of it. It's cooled off this week in Kellogg, making it a perfect time for a delicious hot soup. 

Christy's soup was awesome. 

I enjoy ham and any legume together in a soup and this ham and split pea soup was deeply satisfying. 

That's a lot of satisfaction for one day: a cleared out garage, WOW Hall and "On a Corner", and comforting, warming ham and pea soup. 

Yes! 

Three Beautiful Things 10-17-2025: Solid Lab Results, Minimizing, Bucky and The Lounge

 1. Nurse Jenn of Sacred Heart messaged me today with the good news that my lab results were stable, I'll stay the course with the medications and dosages I'm taking now, and I remain on a once a month schedule for labs. 

My labs always include tests for the BK and CMV viruses and both came up the same: none detected.

I think that means that my suppressed immune system is doing its job -- but not doing it too well. If it goes after my transplanted organ again, we'll know it's doing its job too well! 

2. Debbie and I continue to make solid progress on minimizing what material things we have in our house. Saturday (Oct. 18) we, along with Christy, will get help from Paul and Taylor. They'll use Taylor's pickup and go to the dump for us. 

3. Debbie and I stopped in at Carol and Paul's house where Taylor and Cosette's son, Bucky, was charming his grandparents, Christy, and the rest of us. It's uplifting to see Bucky growing up as a healthy dude, alert and happy with the world of love, care, nutrition, and attention he lives in. 

We went from seeing family to some socializing at The Lounge where we had fun yakkin' with different people and enjoying the good vibes of a Friday early evening in uptown Kellogg. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-16-2025: Unloading Cans of Paint, *Lonesome Dove* on Audible, No Wonder They Call Him Mad Max

1. I helped chip away a little bit more at reducing the stuff in our house. Christy has arranged to have Taylor and Paul help her with a trip (or two?) to the dump on Saturday and she invited us to add to the effort. My chief goal will be to get old containers of paint out of the basement. 

2. When I started reading Lonesome Dove a few months ago, I wanted an Audible version of the book to help move me forward -- this had to do with the loopy sensations I was feeling in my head until about three weeks ago. When I first looked, the book was not available on Audible, but this evening I found out that's changed and so I downloaded it and I think this will spur me to return to reading it. 

3. Ever since he was a Washington National, I've known Max Scherzer was a fiery competitor and this evening I got a kick out of watching Blue Jay manager John Schneider's visit to the mound with two outs in the fifth inning fire him up. Scherzer locked eyes, each a different color, with Schneider. He screamed a crazed stream of profanities that made it clear he was going to stay in the game. 

He did stay. 

He retired Randy Arozarena for the third out.  He even came back out and pitched two thirds of the sixth inning. 

When Schneider came to the mound to remove Scherzer in the sixth, Scherzer complied, walked quietly to the dugout, apparently realizing that he had emptied his tank and that he needed relief. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-15-2025: Blood Draw (with Ed!), Winning Wednesday, Minimizing Our Belongings

 1. I blasted the Camry out of Kellogg and arrived at Ed's house shortly after 7:00 this morning. We barreled over the 4th of July Pass, eased on over to Kootenai Health to Lab Services. Stephanie immediately invited me to her station, checked me in, told me we have a mutual birthday, initiated some more friendly and fun banter, and drew my blood. She came out front and wished Ed and me good luck. 

2. Why did she wish us good luck? Why was Ed with me at the lab? 

It's Wednesday. 

Make that WINNING WEDNESDAY at the Coeur d'Alene Casino.

I suppose I've made it obvious in this blog that it brightens me up to go spin some reels on Winning Wednesday, especially after I go in for labs or other appointments in CdA.

So Ed and I rocketed down to the CdA Casino for the rest of the morning, ate a late breakfast just before 11:00, spun reels for a little while longer and stormed back to the Silver Valley. 

I enjoy going playing machines that are 15-20 years old as well as the newer ones. I've been playing a game called Hoot Loot for nearly as long as I can remember going to the Coeur d'Alene Casino. It's a fun -- and kind of funny -- old style game and today I had a pretty good spin on it and guaranteed myself that I'd leave the casino with more bank that I walked in with. 

3. I arrived home to discover Debbie had been very productive, especially around the house and in the garage, cleaning, rearranging, and sorting. We discussed how we could continue the work she began today and I think I'll have some tasks to complete while Debbie is away, starting next week, in Illinois and New York. We like to minimize the stuff we have around the house as much as possible and it looks like we'll be giving that goal of ours more attention over the next several days. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-14-2025: Walking and Sleeping, Fresh Salad, *Emergency Horse* and *ghosts and all*

1. I have had some bouts of insomnia lately. Today, I strolled down to the State Farm office with a simple and easy question and then walked to the ATM a little ways on down Cameron. I walked home. 

Miraculously, this very modest amount of walking helped me sleep through the night, interrupted only by occasional trips to the loo or by Copper talking to me periodically through the night more than he usually does. 

2.  Fresh, not garden fresh, but fresh, crisp, flavor packed vegetables tossed together in our largest bowl are the foundation for a salad that we can keep adding more vegetables to and right now this salad is ready for additions after I enjoyed two heaping and satisfying bowls of it for dinner. 

3. Scott Taylor, a U of Oregon student of mine from back in the spring of 1982, has joined with other friends to revive a literary magazine they put out many years ago in Eugene entitled, Emergency Horse. Through Facebook, Scott and I have been in contact, and a while back, Scott asked me for my mailing address so that he could send me a couple copies of Emergency Horse and his book of poetry, ghosts and all. I look forward to reading both publications, especially because starting when he was in the writing class I taught on through reading pieces and looking at photography he's posted online,  I've  enjoyed and admired Scott's artistic sensibilities and his sense of humor. His wit is satiric, sarcastic, and I'd say absurdist. It works for me. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-13-2025: Sleeping In, Angel Hair, Debbie Subbed

 1. For years, I've enjoyed a fairly reliable sleep pattern and that's no longer true right now. Luckily, I'm retired so that when I have, as I did overnight, a longish awake period, I can sleep in. I wasn't up and around this morning until nearly 10 a.m. I don't remember the last time I slept in that long. 

2. I made Cincinatti chili for dinner, using cans of Skyline's sauce. Debbie asked me to use angel hair pasta and that worked really well. It was fun to change things up a little. 

3. Debbie subbed at Pinehurst Elementary School today. She had a good day in the classroom and it was kind of fun for me to listen to her talk about her day which went pretty well. She's going to sub for a half day on Tuesday of this week. She doesn't have any other sub jobs that I know of coming up before she flies to Chicago on Oct. 23. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-12-2025: Adrienne's Perfect Words in Church Today, An Admiring Farewell to Jane King, Superb Family Dinner

 1. The fall is the time of year when every Episcopal church I've ever attended or was a member of mounts its pledge drive. Church members and others are urged to commit themselves to how much money they will contribute to the parish's operations over the upcoming year. 

Adrienne is a member of Grace Episcopal Church in Nyack, NY and yesterday she gave an eloquent and insightful talk on behalf of the parish's Social Committee outlining what kind of work Grace Episcopal Church does to alleviate hardship in the local community and how such social work is a vital expression of and an acting out of one's faith. 

Fortunately, this service is preserved on YouTube, so Debbie and I got to hear Adrienne's thoughtful and inspiring and, I should add, very persuasive appeal to the congregation. 

I was blown away, not because I didn't know Adrienne was capable of such deep thought and eloquence, but because her message about the connectedness between faith and action is so central to living a Christian life and being of service to those in need. 

2. One of the most enthusiastic and generous supporters of the work Rita Hennessy did with learning communities at Lane Community College was Jane King, a Eugene citizen energetically committed to lifelong and interdisciplinary learning, among many other things. Rita's first foray into learning communities at LCC was a project called Alternative Visions and Jane was a student in this undertaking. Jane also enrolled in the Shakespeare course I taught for several years -- it was a three term course and I don't remember how many terms Jane participated in it, but she was a stellar presence in the classroom and especially loved learning through interaction with the students in class young enough to be her great grandchildren! 

Rita, Jane, and I remained friends for years after Rita and I finished our co-teaching work at LCC.  Rita and I visited her when she lived at the Eugene Hotel and we went on cultural/educational outings together.

On one of my visits to Eugene after Debbie and I moved away, well, July 17th, 2017, to be exact, Nate, Margaret, Jeff, Michael, and I were sitting at a sidewalk table outside Perugino, a coffee shop, and Jane strolled up to our table. She'd just been shopping at Down to Earth and was on her way back to the Eugene Hotel. We all had a wonderful visit with her. 

That was the last time I saw Jane King. 

She died this past week on Oct 10th, just a few days shy of her 102nd birthday. 

I've been enjoying having wonderful memories of being at Jane's home, working with her in the classroom, discussing books and movies with her, and relishing all the encouragement and gratitude she gave me every time we saw each other. 

Jane King possessed the rare gift of brightening and bringing goodness to every encounter she and I had and every encounter I ever saw her be a part of. 

She brought peace to the world around her and now, surely, she is resting in that very peace. 

3. Carol organized a fall themed family dinner tonight. We started in the living room and Debbie provided both the appetizers and the cocktail. She brought a batch of maple syrup sweetened Old Fashions and served pumpkin hummus with naan bread and provided a chunk of cranberry goat cheese.  

For dinner, Christy prepared a terrific fall salad and a vinaigrette on the side and Carol fixed a superb beef shoulder pot roast with bowl brimming with roasted root vegetables and served awesome pumpkin dinner rolls. Carol also baked a pear walnut cake for dessert. 

Week after week, it seems, I write each dinner we have was one of the best! Maybe they almost always are one of the best! 

And, tonight, yes, this family dinner was one of the best.

 

Three Beautiful Things 10-11-2025: Birthday Party Reptiles, Pork and Apples, A Touch of AC/DC

 1. In my years working at Lane Community College, on two separate occasions, students brought huge snakes to class. One woman brought her snake in fulfillment of an assignment I gave to illustrate the essay she, like everyone else, read aloud in class. The other student? Well, she just showed up with this huge snake wrapped around her shoulders. It wasn't a part of anything we were doing in class. 

I know in the second instance, one student in the class ran out of the room shaking, nearly sobbing, panicked. She had a profound fear of snakes. (The day's snake handler took her snake away.) I don't remember if anyone had a similar reaction in the first instance. 

These two instances played out in my mind's eye today because our granddaughter, Ellie, turns six on Tuesday, and she and a friend celebrated with a shared party today. 

A big hit at the party turned out to be reptiles, including huge snakes! 

An outfit that brings reptiles to birthday parties and other situations was hired for today's party to educate the children and adults about reptiles and provide some unique fun. 

I repeat. 

The children loved it! 

Adrienne sent us a terrific video of a huge snake wrapped around Ellie and I immediately hoped that her experience would help her think of snakes in a positive way -- in other words, I hope her birthday party experience has more influence on her than all those scary scenes from movies and myths that present snakes as evil and aggressive. (I know there are also snakes to be cautious of.)

Adrienne also sent a picture of herself enfolded by a snake. 

Yes! 

2. It's cooled of splendidly here in the Silver Valley. 

It's raining some.

Debbie and I settled in for the day and were so comfortable that we decided we'd like to stay home rather than attend this evening's Pork and Apple Feed at the Elks. 

Suddenly, however, Debbie changed her mind.

She wanted to go to The Lounge and see about getting two pork and apple dinners to go at the Elks. 

I was really comfortable and content indoors and I declined.

This also meant that it was likely I would not be preparing Cincinatti Chili for dinner, as originally planned. 

Debbie returned home with two dinners.

The pork was tender, the apples complimented the meat perfectly, and I really enjoyed the baked beans, cole slaw, and dinner roll. 

It made me very happy to contribute to this Elks fundraiser and that Debbie contributed a little more by buying tickets for the several drawings that took place during dinner. 

Ed called me later to report that Debbie had won a basket and she gave it to Ed and Nancy.

It was all good. 

3. Until late this evening, I had never seen AC/DC's official video of the song "It's a Long Way to the Top", but I took a break from Brahm's 4th symphony and other similar music and watched it.

The band plays on the back of a truck on a street in Melbourne and when Bon Scott plays his bagpipe, he's joined by other bagpipers to give added strength and volume to the bagpipe sections of the song. 

It's thrilling. 

Watching AC/DC perform in the 1970s prior to Bon Scott's death, I understand in a way I never did before what a daunting challenge the band faced when they decided to keep going with a new front man. 

I gotta say: the rock gods looked down on AC/DC with favor when Brian Johnson auditioned and turned out to be their guy. 

Bon Scott was awesome. 

So is Brian Johnson.

And, by the way, Angus Young is 70. Brian Johnson is 78. 

And, for AC/DC, 2025 has been and continues to be a year of international touring and rockin' live performances. 

Here's a link to the official video of "It's a Long Way to the Top": AC/DC - It's A Long Way To The Top (Official Video Ver.2), Full HD (AI Remastered and Upscaled)

Three Beautiful Things 10-10-2025: Memorizing Brahms, Yakkin' at The Lounge, Bedtime Popcorn

 1. Here's what I am aiming for: if Brahm's 4th symphony comes on the radio or pops up in a movie or if I happen to hear it some other way, I want to be able to "name that tune in three notes" as it starts. I'm almost there. I know I'll be there when I can be doing something totally unrelated to listening to music, think of this symphony, and can hear its opening, call it up from my memory. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm getting close. 

2. Shortly after 4 o'clock, Debbie and I strolled into The Lounge. Ed and I try to meet on Fridays around this time and he was there and the three of us entered into some serious yakkin' about everything from how things have changed in the world to Civil War battle sites to our relationships with our adult children. It was a great session. Ed left before we did and Debbie and I hung around a little longer and had a great talk about family matters and how Adrienne, Patrick, and Molly are doing. 

3. Around 9:30 or so, Debbie ended a long conversation with Misty, I finished the Saturday New York Times crossword puzzle, and Debbie told me she was hungry for ice cream (we didn't have any on hand) and then changed gears and said she wanted popcorn. She was prepared to make it herself, but because I have popped myself a lot of popcorn over the last few months, I volunteered to be tonight's chief popcorn popper. 

And it worked. I popped us each a bowl and it turned out to be a perfect bedtime snack! 

Three Beautiful Things 10-09-2025: Recognizing Compositions, Emotional Impact, Tri-tip Macaroni

1. I enjoy recognizing pieces of music when they come over the airwaves or if I hear them in a movie. It's too bad I don't watch the cartoons I grew up with or some commercials and tv shows from my youth which made fun use of classical pieces. 

Aside, maybe, from one of his famous Hungarian Dances, I've never recognized Brahm's compositions when they've come on and today I listened a few times to Brahm's 4th Symphony, hoping to imbed its themes in my memory. I definitely will always recognize the third movement and hope that with more repetition my aging mind will hold onto the other three movements, too. 

2. I also listened again to the Sticky Notes podcast episode examining Brahm's 4th Symphony and realized that I will never fully absorb and remember the technical details that Joshua Weilerstein explains, but that's no problem. I am more interested in the symphony's emotional impact than its technical wonders -- even if the two are ultimately inseparable. 

3. Debbie cut up a chunk of tri-tip beef she'd thawed, cooked the pieces, and took the leftover macaroni dish from last night out of the fridge and this combination was blissful. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-08-2025: Mount Saint Helens Symphony, Classical Music Podcast (and Brahms), Homemade Hamburger Helper

1.  During her time slot on WUOL public radio today, Colleen Wheelahan played a stirring and memorable 20th century symphony that I didn't know existed and that took me back to May of 1980. 

United States composer Alan Hovanhess's Symphony No 50 is also titled Mount Saint Helens. 

It's a musical expression of the grandeur and peacefulness of Mount Saint Helens and, in the second movement, of Spirit Lake. These first two movements remind listeners of the mightiness the mountain and the wonder of Spirit Lake, but also of their fragility. 

In the third movement, this peacefulness gives way to the chaos of the volcano's eruption on May 18, 1980. The orchestral violence, the sturm and drang especially of the percussion instruments, brought back the terror and awe of that day. 

As it turned out, I was safe in Eugene, OR that day, even though Eugene sits only about 150 miles from Mt. St. Helens. The prevailing winds carried the ash in a northeasterly direction. In Eugene, the awe we experience came from watching footage of the eruption and its aftermath on television. 

Often, the classical music I play during the day occupies only a fraction of my attention. It's mostly background music, very enjoyable background music. 

But when Colleen Wheelahan introduced Alan Hovanhess's Mt. St. Helens symphony, I stopped everything and turned the entirety of my focus on this composition and experienced the contrast between what seemed like the eternal beauty of the mountain and of Spirit Lake, only to have it all blown up in a single morning, a reminder of how all things of the earth are temporary, no matter how mighty and beautiful. 

2. My friend from our North Idaho College days, Liz, calls my periods of focus on one source of pleasure my hyperfixation. 

I like that word and I am happy to embrace it. 

I do get hyperfixated on things.

Right now, within my current hyperfixation on classical music I am having a hyperfixation within my hyperfixation.

It's Johannes Brahm's 4th symphony. 

Today, I had a thought. 

Yes! 

A thought! 

I wondered if possibly a knowledgeable person had posted a podcast episode analyzing Brahm's fourth symphony in some detail and I thought it would be really stimulating if the episode included not only talk, but passages from the symphony to illustrate those insights. 

I quickly discovered that yes such an episode existed and that a young, apparently tireless conductor named Joshua Weilerstein has had a podcast for about eight years that explores one orchestral composition after another in just the manner I hoped for. 

I sense another hyperfixation coming in my near future. 

The podcast is called Sticky Notes. Want to take a look at it? Click here. 

His hour-long examination of Brahm's 4th symphony is here. 

As happens so often when I dig a bit deeper into any work of art, it always seems to take me back to Shakespeare. 

Brahm's abrupt opening of this symphony, without introduction (no Once Upon a Time) reminded me of several of Shakespeare's plays, as did Brahm's juxtaposition of opposing emotions, his drive to express complexity, and Brahm's simultaneous adherence to traditional forms and his undoing of them. 

Weilerstein's podcast helped me hear for the first time the musical themes of this symphony, helped me understand how Brahm's plays with those themes, and, most of all, Weilerstein helped me connect passages in Brahm's composition with specific emotions, emotions I couldn't have identified on my own.

I'm not done with this particular podcast episode. 

Who knows how hyper my fixation on it will be? 😊 

3. I don't know what it is about elbow macaroni, but I love it. 

A while back, I made a macaroni salad -- I think it was for family dinner -- and it turned me into an elbow macaroni glutton. 

I tried not to be a glutton tonight when Debbie told me she had made what she called "Homemade Hamburger Helper". 

I asked if she used rice. 

"No," she replied. "Macaroni." 

Oh.

My. 

God. 

I dug into this perfect blend of ground beef, tomatoes, summer squash, other ingredients, and macaroni. 

My day of music listening and learning bliss was more than matched by this culinary bliss. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-07-2025: The Influence of Colleen Wheelahan, Brahm's Fourth Symphony, Heaven and Earth

 1. I am genuinely a one trick at a time pony, for better or worse. I don't seem capable (or willing) to do a variety of things I enjoy at one time, so I tend to focus on one source of pleasure for -- I don't know -- months? weeks? days? -- on end. While I was working my way through the Leah Sottile list of books, all I did was read. When I plunged into an informal, unstructured study of older movies at Vizio University, all I did was watch movies. With Debbie, I went through a television series stage of watching Columbo, Monk, and other shows. About five years ago, I plunged into the world of poetry, reading, watching videos, listening to podcasts, and that focus dominated my seeking of pleasure. 

I guess one thing that never changes is that I post on this blog every day. 

Right now, my pleasure, at the expense of everything else, is classical music. 

It started one morning a couple of months ago when I got up to drive to another appointment in CdA or Spokane and pretty much out of the blue decided to put SiriusXM's Symphony Hall channel on in the Camry as I blasted off. 

I kept listening, at home and in the car, and I found one of the channel's hosts particularly stimulating and pleasing to listen to. 

Her name is Colleen Wheelahan. She comes on the air at 3 a.m. I go to sleep with Symphony Hall on so that her program will be on whenever I wake up after 3 a.m.

Wanting to learn more about Colleen Wheelahan, I discovered she is not only an early morning classical music host, but an evening host as well, not on SirusXM, but on WUOL, the classical station in Louisville, KY. Her evening show comes on at three in the afternoon here in the west. I downloaded the  Louisville Public Media app on my phone and, when I remember and when I'm at home, I listen to her program from 3 to 6 p.m.

2. Over the last couple of days a convergence in my life of listening to classical music happened. 

If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that I've been mentioning, from time to time, classical compositions that, when they come on, stop me in my tracks, strike me deep in my soul, and bring back to mind history with these compositions that I love to remember. 

I don't know if there's a word for the experience of having the inner sensation of great memories triggered, but not being able to pinpoint what those memories are. 

I had this experience when either Symphony Hall or WUOL played the third movement of Johannes Brahm's fourth symphony. 

I was transfixed. 

I have no idea, even after several days of thinking about it, what that movement takes me back to, but I love it. 

Hold that thought.  

I subscribe to Colleen Wheelahan's Substack. It's titled, Classically Colleen. 

It's been a wonder to read her writing, to experience her enthusiasm for and deep knowledge of classical music. 

Well, lo and behold, and here's the convergence, on September 29th Colleen Wheelahan posted her thoughts about, you guessed it, Brahm's fourth symphony. 

This evening, I opened my Spotify app and listened to the fourth symphony in its entirety and reread Colleen Wheelahan's reflections and the historical background she provided. (Click here to read it.)

Without her blog post, I never would have never listened to this symphony in the context of late 19th century Viennan and Austrian history, nor would I have considered parallels between Austria then and the USA now. 

The post also cites and provides links to other of Brahm's compositions and I am eager to listen to them. 

I am ignorant when it comes to Brahm's music. 

Colleen Wheelahan is enlightening me. 

3.  So, yes, I admit it, having experiences like I did today with Brahm's fourth symphony transports me out of this world. 

But, today, I was also very much involved in the world, too. If being transported means my head was in the clouds, my feet were also on the ground. 

I did laundry. 

I paid bills and delivered or mailed them. 

I enjoyed how Debbie transformed her potato/root vegetable dish from Monday's family dinner into a sausage, potato, cheese, and root vegetable dinner tonight. 

I took care of Copper's needs. 

I took my pills on time. 

In other words, I moved back and forth between heaven and earth, making this both a day of spiritual pleasure and down to earth productivity. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-06-2025: Figuring Out the Vizio Room, Family Dinner Menu, Family Dinner Discussion

 1. The Vizio room -- which really isn't the Vizio room any longer since the tv no longer sits in there -- has been a thorn in my side, starting when Debbie returned to Kellogg after a year in New York in the early fall of 2021. While Debbie was gone, I brought Luna and Copper into our home, not knowing how Gibbs and the cats would get along once they were all together in the house. 

We found out immediately that Gibbs would never be able to resist barking at and, given the chance, chasing the cats. 

So, they had to live separately from each other. 

The Vizio room became the litter box room. 

And it became a room of disorder. I'll leave it at that. 

Well, today, I once again tried to bring order to that room and started to get serious about making decisions regarding what stays, what goes, and how that room might be better furnished. 

I also wondered, once again, if I might be able to spend more time in there -- I wondered how risky it is for me to be in that room for extended periods of time, post-transplant, with the litter box in there. 

I sorted, reboxed, tossed, contemplated, and am still in a state of uncertainty about how to make the best use of this room, in addition to it being a sanctuary for Copper and a place for him to do his business. 

2. Here's what is true for me. 

Tonight we had one of our best family dinners. 

The food was perfect, not only as early autumn comfort, but for how delicious it all was.

I might not have the details perfectly straight, but you'll get a sense of the great contributions Christy, Carol, and Debbie made.

We bagan with a superb appetizerL  a pear chunk wrapped in bacon placed on a table cracker and a small slice of provlone cheese topped with a drizzle of pure maple syrup. It was sweet, savory, and a bit salty, a perfect combination. 

Carol also made a fresh green salad with pear chunks tossed in. I can't remember what kind of dressing she made -- but I can say it was perfect. 

Christy made a meatloaf that has a special name (I think) that I can't remember and that was one she had made before. It's so good that it took wild wild horses to drag me away from eating the whole thing myself! 

Debbie made a casserole combining vegetables of the ground: potatoes, a parsnip, onion, and carrots. The prominent seasoning was her judicious use of terragon and it made this casserole pop. 

Christy also made a delicious dessert: a pumpkin pound cake with chocolate and I enjoyed mine with a scoop of restorative vanilla ice cream.

3. While and after we ate dinner, we had wide ranging conversation. Debbie and I described our experience on Saturday at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane. Paul talked about a lecture he helped provide tech for in Wallace on Saturday and he then connected insurrection with Jesus, St. Paul, the blowing up of the mine mill in Kellogg, and insurrection in the 2020s. Eventually our conversation, thanks to Jesus and St. Paul, focused on our perspectives on The Way. 

It all seemed to hang together. We connected Raven, power, insurrection, The Way, and Christy and Paul's upcoming decisions about Medigap insurance.  It was wondrous. 

It was all cordial, stimulating, even tempered, thoughtful, and substantial. 

Great food. 

Great discussion. 

A great family dinner! 

Three Beautiful Things 10-05-2025: The Mythological Past in the Present, Soul Affirmation in the Classroom, Catching Up on Puzzles

1. Yesterday I got an email from Nini in response to my blog post about going to the Preston Singletary exhibit in Spokane. Nini told me she wished she could see this exhibit (she doesn't live nearby and won't). Moreover, what I wrote and the link from the museum I sent to her, reminded her of Louise Erdrich. 

Her mention of Louise Erdrich deepened my futile and impossible wish that Rita were alive and could see this exhibit. Rita and I assigned at least three of Erdrich's novels to our philosophy/writing students. I know we worked with Love Medicine, The Beet Queen, and Tracks. I can't remember whether in our later years teaching together we assigned The Bingo Palace, too. 

At the museum, as I made my way through the story of Raven bringing light to the world, I, too, thought of Louise Erdrich, not because she told this particular story in her novels, but because she so deftly and beautifully weaved stories she created in the present or in earlier parts of the 20th century with tales from the deep and mythological Native American past. I most recently experienced this in her novel, The Round House and the way she brought the story of Wiindigo (this word has many spellings) into the novel. 

So my experience at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture continues to deepen, my thoughts about and wishes for Rita grow stronger, and my plans to return to this exhibit gain momentum. 

2. I also deeply appreciated that Judy, one of our students from those team teaching days,  commented on my blog post. She experienced the course she enrolled in with us as soul affirming and I commented back that her presence and involvement in that class were also soul affirming. Judy continues to be a soul affirming and positive resident of Eugene and I'm very happy that we have stayed in touch all these years through involvement at St. Mary's Episcopal Church and Facebook. 

3. All my gallivanting last week during my trip to Pendleton put me behind in solving daily New York Times crossword puzzles. Today was a relaxing day as I slowly, surely, and with some much needed help from the World Wide Web, got caught up. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-04-2025: Day Trip to the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, Wishing Rita Hennessy Were Alive, Lunch at Indigenous Eats

 1. Debbie is home. 

Debbie is retired. 

She will sub from time to time, but she's got more time and energy for us to do things together.

Like go to Spokane.

Like go to the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (MAC) in Browne's Addition. 

And that's just what we did.

And I was blown away. 

The MAC is currently showing an exhibit titled, Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight. 

Singletary is a glass artist and this exhibit features his many pieces that illustrate the Tlingit story of Raven and his transformation of the world, primarily by bringing light to a world of darkness. It's an origin story and features elements found in many mythologies around the world including the idea of "let there be light", immaculate conception, and others. 

The designers of this exhibit set it up so that we walked through the four main parts of the story: Along the Nass River, Transformation, The Nobleman at the Head of the Nass River, and Clan House. Each part featured the works of Preston Singletary and all around us we heard the sounds of ravens, soundscapes of the Southeastern Alaska coast, Raven's story being told by native storytellers in their native language, and original music. In addition, the exhibit was further enhanced by video projections adding visual textures and images to the experience of being immersed in this story. 

2. The story, Preston Singletary's art, and the design of the exhibit all moved me. 

I was also moved by memories of team teaching with Rita Hennessy and found myself wishing she were still alive and that we could walk through this exhibit together. I also had wishful thoughts rise up about how much I would enjoy it if Rita and I could experience this exhibit with the students we worked with over the years. 

Over the years, Rita immersed herself in understanding and experiencing Native American life and culture in the USA, especially in the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and the west coast. 

As we taught philosophy and writing together, she creatively and intelligently integrated her knowledge of and experience with Native cultures into our studies of ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics. 

At the heart of our approach (mostly guided by Rita) to learning philosophy was the vast work Joseph Campbell did over decades, studying and writing about the myths of countless cultures worldwide. Campbell identified patterns and images these myths had in common, despite the cultures having had no contact with each other. 

Rita and I would have had a most stimulating time discussing the elements of the Tlingit origin story and how Campbell's work would help us see that it has deep connections to other myths and religions.  Campbell helped us see that through these stories human beings have had the common experience of  trying to make sense out of the great mysteries of origin and of the journey from youth to adulthood and have told stories featuring heroes who experience similar cycles of experience that test them, cleanse them, and strengthen them to become flawed figures to looked up to and inspired by.  

3. Debbie and I left this exhibit with plans to return. I bought the very handsome book published to accompany this exhibit. We'd both like to learn more about the exhibit and return so we can experience it more fully. 

*****

When Christy, Carol, and I went to the Jundt Art Museum on an earlier Sibling Outing, afterward we ate Indigenous Eats (Hamilton and Boone) in Spokane. 

Debbie and I decided to have lunch there after our museum visit. 

I didn't want anything as filling as an Indigenous (NdN) Taco, so I ordered a bowl of Three Sisters Soup, featuring maize (corn), squash, and beans -- three main crops of some North American tribes. 

I ordered frybread on the side and together they provided the lighter and delicious lunch I wanted. 

By the way, I'll just add that I'm happy it's a great time of year for soup. The ham and bean soup I had at Meacham and this soup today were both deeply satisfying.  

Three Beautiful Things 10-03-2025: Back to the Silver Valley, Reunion with Copper, A Visit to The Lounge

1. Our biannual trip to the Wildhorse Resort and Casino ended today. Ed and I hit the road around 8:45 and I enjoyed easy and pleasant driving conditions on the entire trip back to the Silver Valley. We took a break at the Country Mercantile and another one a 76 station just off the Cheney exit. These were good for caffeine and stretching our legs. I eased the Camry into Kingston and took Ed home and then I glided into Kellogg and enjoyed having a reunion with Debbie, Gibbs, and Copper. 

2. Copper seemed to endure my absence just fine! As he often does after I've gone a while, he ordered me with persistent meows to join him in the bedroom and enjoyed my attention. I talked a little bit to him and pet him and used my fingers to break up a few fur clumps. 

3. Debbie and I scurried up to The Lounge and had a lot of fun. We yakked with each other  and with Cas and said hello to different patrons as they strolled in. The group of Wallace people who go to a different Silver Valley bar each Friday were in the house, so I had two excellent visits with Rob Gillies. During the second visit we were joined by Eric Howell whose parents (RIP), Rodney and Rhonda, are members of the KHS Class of 72. Eric spends a lot of time researching local history and had a lot of questions for Rob about what he knew and filled us in on a lot of his knowledge and discoveries. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-02-2025: Breakfast Quandary -- Sort Of, Bean Soup at Oregon Trail, Ice Cream Is Better Than Bad Luck!

 1. Mike, Ed, and I strode into the Traditions restaurant and settled in.  I ordered biscuits and gravy with two scrambled eggs, but our conscientious server pointed out that I'd get a better deal if I ordered the Cabbage Hill Scramble, an open face biscuit layered with sausage patties and scrambled eggs, topped with sausage gravy. The breakfast also included hash browns. The sausage tasted good, but I wish I would have asked our server if I could have this meal without the sausage patties. It would have been less rich and lighter and would have been the biscuits and gravy with eggs breakfast I originally thought of to order. 

No harm done. I was happy with my food. 

Maybe next time, however, I'll remember to ask about the no sausage option. 

2. Around two o'clock, Mike, Ed, Terry, and I piled into Mike's Sube and rocketed up I-84 to Meecham, OR for lunch at the Oregon Trail Store and Deli, one of our favorite places to eat. I ordered a bowl of delicious ham and bean soup with a side of French fries. It was awesome. Not only did it taste great, but I took the opportunity, for the first time, to try out soup at this cafe and treated myself to an order of their hand cut and delicious French fries. 

3. My luck on the casino floor hadn't been good this trip and I decided to play for a while one last time to see if my fortunes might change. 

They didn't. 

I shrugged. 

I brought my time in the casino to an end in a pleasing manner. for the third evening in a row, I ordered a dish of Cascade Glacier ice cream, this time combining a scoop of Salted Caramel with a scoop of Moose Tracks. 

I was really happy that I resisted the voice inside me that tried to get me to resist eating ice cream for the third straight evening. 

Whatever slight disappointment I felt because of the losses I incurred spinning reels was blissfully wiped out by enjoying this refreshing and delicious ice cream. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-01-2025: Our Witty Server, Puzzles and Spinning Reels, Dinner at The Plateau

 1. Bruce, Jake, and Terry hit the Wildhorse's golf course shortly before 9:00 and Don, Mike, Ed, and I met at the Traditions restaurant for a delicious and bracing breakfast. Our server was awesome. She was no doubt younger than us, but not a lot younger, and had a great sense of humor and was efficient and engaging. Yes, the food was great, but having a server who seemed like a peer and who seemed to enjoy serving us and enjoyed the repartee that developed when she delivered our orders made the meal all the more enjoyable. 

2. While on this getaway, I'm not really even trying to get as much puzzle solving done as I do at home. I'm behind in crosswords, may not ever solve the Oct 1 Strands, and am putting my energy into enjoying the company of my friends, napping a bit, and spinning reels on the casino floor. 

3. We all joined together for a splendid meal at the resort's steakhouse, The Plateau, tonight. I tried their stuffed chicken breast and enjoyed it, along with a spinach and strawberry salad. Stories and wisecracks flew around the table and we enjoyed a lot of laughs and great food together. Having this Wednesday night dinner together is a long and much cherished tradition. 

Three Beautiful Things 09-30-2025: Breakfast at Dave's Bar and Grill, Dinner with Colette, God's Blessing and Kellogg ID

1. Ed and I piled into the Camry at 6 this morning and blasted off. Our destination was the Wildhorse Resort and Casino outside Pendleton, OR. 

I like to read people's experiences at different restaurants in North Idaho and the Spokane area. Over the last month or so, people post positive comments about the hearty breakfasts served at Dave's Bar and Grill near the corner of Pines Road and East Sprague. 

Ed and I stopped in this morning and both of us enjoyed our food -- in fact, we were enthusiastic about it. A bunch of men, some alone, some in groups, were also at Dave's at 7 a.m. and all of them were right around my age and Ed's. 

We liked that and figured these guys were regulars and Dave's was where they often (or always) got their day started. 

Ed was very enthusiastic about his sausage links which were large and had charred grill marks on them, as if they'd been cooked on a BBQ grill. 

I ordered a sausage patty and when our superb server asked me if I wanted gravy on my fried potatoes, I said I did and the potatoes and gravy made me very happy,

2. We arrived in Pendleton, got settled in, and one by one the other guys arrived throughout the afternoon. Don Windisch and I got settled in our room. Don, Ed, Jake, Mike S., and met in the sports bar. I enjoyed a Bud Zero. The other guys drank beers and enjoyed bar food. 

I didn't eat because at 5 o'clock, I met Colette at the Thai Crystal restaurant downtown and we picked up conversation where we left off in April, with special emphasis on stories about Colette's daughter and on a podcast Colette listens to often entitled, Between the Covers, hosted by David Naimon who interviews, in depth, a different author each episode. The interviews are in depth. The episodes can last a couple of hours. They've been both stimulating and a comfort for Colette and I plan to follow her advice and tune in. 

3. Almost every single day, I have resisted eating the ice cream I have been craving almost every single day! Here at Pendleton, I've decided the resisting is OFF. So I went to the deli and ordered a dish of Cookies and Cream ice cream and returned refreshed to our room and got to have two great conversations. 

First, Terry came by, at his dinner, and caught me up on a variety of things in his life ranging from his and Nancy's health to his ongoing involvement in Trout Unlimited. 

Don arrived back to our room and we had a great talk. Don and I are both 71 years old and figure we've known each other for about sixty-six or sixty-seven years and we marveled at how lucky we are to have kept our friendship going all these years and to have long lasting friendships with the guys we are with this week and with other men and women we grew up with in and around Kellogg. 

We agreed that it's God's blessing that we have this good fortune in our lives.