Three Beautiful Things 10-01-2026: I Finish *The Dog Stars*, Lunch in Meacham, Serious Yakkin' in Ed's Room

 1. I won't give away the ending to Peter Heller's The Dog Stars. I will say that after I finished it, I closed the book, lay back in my Wildhorse Resort bed, and thought a lot about the complexities of survival, the post-apocalyptic inevitability of violence, about love, the post-apocalyptic yang to the yin of violence, and ingenuity, flexibility, and adaptability. 

I also thought about poetry, especially this one by the ninth century Chinese poet Li Shang-Yin:

When Will I Be Home?

When will I be home? I don't know. 

In the mountains, in the rainy night, 

The Autumn lake is flooded.

Someday we will be back together again.

We will sit in the candlelight by the West window.

And I will tell you how I remembered you.

Tonight on the stormy mountain. 

This poem is vital to the story Peter Heller tells in The Dog Stars. 

2. Earlier in the day, Mike, Ed, Don, and I strolled into the Oregon Trail Grocery and Deli in Meacham, OR, an essential part of our routine when we get together twice a year at the Wildhorse Resort and Casino. A hard-working couple runs the place. I don't know their names, but the husband, who takes orders and serves them,  has been friendly and funny with us for as long as we've patronized the Deli and his wife is a superb slinger of the menu's food. 

I ordered a bowl of superb ham and pinto bean soup to go with a memorable Patty Melt. Everything was perfect: the ground beef coming off the well-seasoned grill, the bite and slight sweetness of the Swiss cheese, the onions grilled just right, and, the coup de grace, the robust nuttiness of the rye bread. 

The cook came out from the kitchen and let us shower her with accolades and she was laughing appreciatively as we fell over ourselves with gratitude for her impeccable work. 

3. Mike, Don, and I came up to Ed's room around 4:00. The other guys enjoyed some whiskey and I drained a cup of coffee. We had quite a session, talking about the past and the present, what we read or watch on television, the complications of family life, and what happens when people who share the same father but didn't know each other have a chance to meet up and get acquainted. 

Fascinating -- and the stories were not uncommon. I hear more and more of these tales the older I grow and Debbie's side of the family has their own to tell as Misty, fathered by Debbie's brother David, has entered into the lives not only of Debbie and me, but of David's two other adult children and has become acquainted with more and more of the family tree she just discovered she's a part of a couple or three years ago.