Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Three Beautiful Things 05-12-2026: Body and Mind and Soul, Quietness, Improvised Bacon and Tomato Sandwiches

 1. When I check in at the transplant clinic, for the last year or so it's been a really good guy named Brandon who takes my temperature, weighs me, takes my blood pressure, checks my blood oxygen, asks me a series of questions about medicines and if I've been having any problems. 

We yakked a bit and I told him about going to the symphony and how I've been slowly reading Lonesome Dove and he told me how much he enjoys listening to cello music. 

Nurse Jenn had the day off Monday, so Brandon also checked me out and was very impressed that my exit papers were so brief -- as I wrote yesterday, no medicine changes and only a few appointments over the next year. 

"Wow!" he said, "That's great."

I responded, "It's all that Bach and Beethoven."

He answered, "Yeah. Good for the soul."

He nailed it. 

I will always be convinced that my daily efforts to be good to my soul by writing daily about three beautiful things that day, listening to great music (jazz, classical, jam bands, alt country, classic rock, yacht rock, 90s alternative rock, and more), watching movies I love, learning more about the natural world, reading substantial books, having Copper and Gibbs as companions, being invigorated at book club, spending time in communication with great friends, whether online or in person, enjoying outings with Debbie, and having scheduled time with my sisters to dine together (with our families) and go on Spokane outings to enjoy food, art, sites, museums and other positive Spokane offerings have all combined to boost my health and to nourish the connections within me between body, mind, and spirit. 

2. After such a full and wonderful day yesterday, I drew in today and spent much of the day focused on quietness. I wrote a couple of emails to the Class of '72 and began to reach out to three people about a few things that will help me when I am the host/MC of June 13th's Celebration of Life for Bruce Larsen. 

3. Debbie's been jonesing for a BLT lately and tonight she fried up some bacon and sliced tomatoes and red onion and both of us built ourselves a sandwich. We both passed on the lettuce -- BT sandwiches, I guess -- but I souped mine up a bit by spreading olive tapenade on one slice of bread and topping it with crumbled feta cheese. I also passed on the freshly sliced red onion and, instead, put pickled red onion on top of my tomato slices. 

Great simple meal.

Maybe even good for my soul. 


 

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