1.On Sunday I listened to Jeff Pearlman's podcast episode on Seattle Seahawk Hall of Fame inductee the late Kenny Easley.
Kenny Easley died recently.
I could make a long list of what Kenny Easley and I do not have in common: as a young athlete he was fast, quick, cerebral, passionate about football, and one of the best to ever play the safety position.
We did, however, have one commonality: he did and I do deal with living with a kidney transplant because of Chronic Kidney Disease -- and in his case, kidney failure.
His case was radically different from mine because he played football and the physical punishment and pain he experienced led him to take massive amounts of ibuprofen, a drug that can cause, especially in high doses, kidney damage.
His failing kidneys forced him to retire at 28 years old in 1987 and fortunately he received a kidney transplant in 1990.
In telling Kenny Easley's story, Pearlman emphasizes the neglect Easley and other players experience while playing with injury, illness, and pain and how Easley responded to this neglect after his transplant.
As it turns out, he also explains, without knowing it, why about ten years ago or so I quit watching football, a move I feel no self-righteousness about, that I would expect no one to join me in (football games can be riveting and very entertaining), and that had nothing to do with my kidney disease.
I simply couldn't enjoy watching a game that was causing its players so much pain and serious injury.
When I quit watching, I didn't know a thing about Kenny Easley's story, but it is the next of many stories that moved me to make my decision.
("Wait a minute!" you might be saying. "Didn't you watch this year's Super Bowl?"
"Yes I did. I decided to put my misgivings aside and join the family dinner party that Carol planned that day and it included watching the game.)
If you'd like to watch Jeff Pearlman's podcast, it's here: The NFL does NOT want you to know why Seahawks legend Kenny Easley died
2. I'm 72 years old and I've never watched a baseball game in Wrigley Field; never climbed to the peak of any of Oregon's Three Sisters; never cooked shrimp and grits; I've never seen a play at The Globe Theater in London or heard The Academy of St. Martins in the Field play live; I've never seen a ghost, gone deep sea diving, skied, dunked a basketball, bowled a 300 game, or drunk a pint of Pliny the Younger Triple IPA.
And it took me this long, over 72 years, and it's only happened this week, to listen to the music of Robert Schumann and Clara Schumann and I was deep into my 71st year before I began listening with any focus to Johannes Brahms.
I don't think I'll ever see the Mona Lisa or the Egyptian pyramids, go to Augusta, Georgia and watch The Masters or break bread and shoot the breeze with David Gilmore, but I am thrilled that when I shuffle off this mortal coil, I'll know I spent very fulfilling time listening in earnest and with joy to the music of Robert and Clara Schumann and devoted hours to enjoying Johannes Brahms.
In fact, these three will be featured at this Saturday's (and Sunday's) Spokane Symphony concerts. As I've mentioned, I'll go on Saturday and my preparation this week to hear the three compositions, one by each composer, on the program has me eager to move beyond listening to them on Spotify and listening to music experts talk about them on podcasts and hear their masterpieces live.
3. I wasn't sure my dinner soup idea would work tonight.
For over ten years now, I've been making curry sauce with paste, coconut milk, soy sauce, fish sauce, and brown sugar.
Tonight, I wondered what would happen if I made this sauce and then added a cup of chicken Better Than Bullion and turned the curry sauce into a broth for a soup.
And, I wondered, how about if I sauteed white onion and celery, poured the curry soup broth over the top of it, and then added pieces of potato, cut up cabbage, green beans, and broccoli, cooked them slowly, and when these vegetables were tender, how about if I added about, oh, eight or so shrimp?
I got my answer tonight.
It rocked my world.
Scratched my itch.
Bowled me over.
Swept me off my feet.
Jolted me.
Amazed me.
Astonished me.
It worked.
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