Three Beautiful Things 11-18-2025: (No Winning Wednesday) Learning About Our Nation, Learning About Symphonies, Improving My Soup

 It's Wednesday. 

Also known as Winning Wednesday at the Coeur d'Alene Casino.

Just like a week ago, I didn't go to Winning Wednesday today.

That raises a salient question.

Why not?

Let's pull the curtain back and examine why I didn't play for double points on my player card, redeem my November food voucher, or try my luck on the Invaders from Planet Moomah machine or spin the reels and try to win cash on the Mo' Mummy machine or try my luck with Hoot Loot. 

1. Partly, I exchanged spinning reels for learning. I spent quite a bit of time reading different analyses and listening to different thinkers reflect on what's happening in our nation. 

2. I also continued my efforts to understand better the musical genre of symphony. Whenever I'm at home in the afternoon, I use my Louisville Public Media app to listen to WUOL, the classical music station from the Univ of Louisville. Collen Wheelahan, my favorite classical radio host and, in addition, brilliant Substack writer, has a three hour show at 3:00 PST. 

Following her show is a show distributed by WFMT in Chicago called "Exporing Music with Bill McGlaughlin". 

This week, McGlaughlin is focusing on symphonies, starting with Beethoven's Eroica Symphony and then exploring works by Berlioz, Mendelssohn, and Schubert, and wrapping up the week with Schumann's Rhenish Symphony.  

I admit, I don't soak in everything McGlaughlin says in these one hour shows, but I enjoy his teaching all the same and I can always return to past programs in the show's archives. 

So, this evening, while I wasn't trying to get into the bonus game on the Monty Python and the Holy Grail slot machine, Bill McGlaughlin introduced me to innovative symphonic compositions written by the mid-19th century French composer Hector Berlioz and I learned more about Berlioz's work and more about the symphonic form. 

I know so little. 

My older and slower mind is absorbing all it can. 

3. Instead of redeeming my food voucher at the CdA Casino's Red Tail Bar and Grill, I took out the leftover container of Chicken and Yam soup I made last night and added the ingredients I forgot on Tuesday: fresh lemon juice and fresh spinach leaves. I had a small container of leftover Trader Joe's Greek Chickpeas in the fridge and added them to my soup as well. 

Ah! My soup tasted complete. 

It was so delicious and so comforting that I hardly thought at all of not being on a Karma Kat machine or not dining on a Red Tail shrimp taco and continued to enjoy my day of learning, cooking, eating, and trying to keep the kitchen clean. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-18-2025: Kidneys and Eyesight, Plans Confirmed, Comforting Chicken Soup

 1. How about this! 

At my one year transplant anniversary appointment back in May in Spokane, when the pro assigned to me that day, Natasha Barauskas, PA-C, asked if I'd seen an optometrist lately, I told her I hadn't, but that I thought my eyesight had improved after the transplant. 

Today, Dr. Miller, the optometrist I've been seeing since we moved to Kellogg, confirmed that it made sense that my eyesight had improved because my transplanted kidney is filtering my blood better, improving the flow of blood in my system and enhancing the amount of oxygen being carried to my eyes (the eyes thrive on oxygen). 

We really do have a complex and miraculous interconnected system at work inside our skin. 

2. I confirmed today with Debbie that she will be in New York for Thanksgiving Day. 

I thought that was the case, but I wanted to make sure because if she was flying back to Spokane before Thanksgiving, it could affect the plans Christy, Carol, and I have for a sibling outing on Saturday when we'll do some knocking around up the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River. 

Debbie will be in New York. 

The sibling outing plans are intact. 

3. I forgot to add the fresh spinach I took out of the fridge and forgot to give the soup the squeezes of lemon juice I'd planned. 

But otherwise, I cooked up chicken pieces, white onion, celery, carrots, yam pieces, and broccoli, seasoned it all with some salt and fresh tarragon, and added chicken broth. 

Once I ladled this comforting soup into a bowl, I suddenly desired soy sauce and added a few dashes and then the soup tasted just like I'd wanted it to. 

I still have a quart left. 

I will add spinach and lemon juice to it. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-17-2025: Rice Pudding and Bach, I Was Somnolent, Swiss Steak Stew

 1. Rice pudding. 

It might have been the culprit. 

An 18th century Russian diplomat named Count Hermann Karl von Keyserlingk suffered from insomnia. 

Since Kris Kristofferson had not yet gotten around to writing "Help Me Make It Through the Night", 
J. S. Bach's first biographer wrote that Count von Keyserlingk commissioned Bach to compose pieces that would be soothing and lively enough to help the Count, well, make it through the night. 

And, so, Bach composed The Goldberg Variations. 

I wondered today if possibly rice pudding was what kept the Count awake. 

You see, when Copper and I hit the hay Sunday night after I'd enjoyed our family dinner, I couldn't sleep. 

I didn't toss and turn, in deference to Copper's insistence that I stay still through the night. 

I did read some. I did put the Classical for Sleep channel on Sirius/XM. 

Eventually, by about 2:30 or 3:00, I slept off and on until I arose. 

Looking back, I'm wondering if rice pudding kept me awake. 

Sunday night's rice pudding wasn't super sweet, but it did have sugar in it and I'm wondering if that sugar revved up my system and kept me awake. 

I'll never know, but I'm curious now if historians of Russian diplomacy dug into the culinary life of the good Count Hermann Karl von Keyserlingk, would they find that he had an insatiable desire for and could not resist eating bowls of 

RICE PUDDING?

2. Sleep deprivation shaped my day. Luckily, I wasn't crabby, so Copper and Gibbs didn't suffer any ill consequences of my lack of sleep, but for most of the day I was in a somnolent state. 

I completed Wordle, Quordle, Waffle, Connections, and Strands. 

I blogged. 

I slept. 

An afternoon nap helped lift me mostly out of my lethargy. 

I took a day off from exercising. 

3. Christy sent me home Sunday evening with some leftover Swiss steak (no rice pudding) and in my wide-eyed and bushy tailed state after my nap, I played with it. 

I sliced a half a white onion and peeled and chopped up a yam. 

I fired up some oil in the wok and cooked the onion and yam and then added in some frozen corn kernels.

I cubed the Swiss steak and added it, along with the Swiss steak sauce into the wok and thoroughly enjoyed the stew I had almost accidentally made. 

I had some leftover rice in the fridge but decided not to use it tonight in case I decide later on to make some rice pudding. 

And do an insomnia test. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-16-2025: Sunday Journeys, Swiss Steak Family Dinner, Paul Simon Seminar

 1. I left the house today! 

I went on a road trip all the way uptown to Beach Bum Bakery where I bought a delicious apple fritter and three Everything bagels. My odyssey continued when I survived the grueling drive to Smelterville for a 20 oz latte to enjoy with the fritter I bought. 

I returned home, enjoyed my sweet breakfast, and then girded my loins and went on another journey all the way to Yoke's and bought a few staples and managed to complete the circle of my journey by returning home again. 

2. Christy planned and hosted a superb dinner tonight. Paul, Carol, and I arrived at Christy's around 5:30. The family members not taking immunosuppressive drugs enjoyed a great cocktail, the Dark and Stormy. I, too, enjoyed my potable, a bottle of ginger beer. 

We snacked on vegetables and with two dips, Original Bitchin' Sauce and a spinach artichoke dip. 

Before long, it was time for the main event -- one of my favorite meals ever since I stopped eating jars of Gerber's. 

Christy fixed Swiss Steak using a sirloin tip and fixed mashed potatoes. Carol baked and toasted really satisfying homemade buttermilk bread, and I brought a mess of green beans seasoned with crispy bacon, roasted almond slivers, Everything But the Bagel seasoning, and a light coat of bacon grease. 

For dessert, Christy fixed a wonderful rice pudding. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy it, I've been thinking that with all the rice I prepare during any given week, I ought to start making rice pudding. Mostly, I tend to use leftover rice to make a rice and egg scramble. I am kind of crazy about dried fruit, though, and the prospect of fixing rice pudding with raisins or dried apricots or other dried fruits has me kind of excited. 

3. Once Carol mentioned that she had just watched a documentary movie about Paul Simon, our dinner conversation became focused on Simon's long music career, Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians, my confusion about Natalie Merchant and the 10,000 Maniacs, Mumford and Son and Jerry Douglas, the making of "We Are the World", the movie The Graduate, ABA/NBA legend Connie Hawkins, Graceland, the thorny question of cultural appropriation,  and any number of other topics inspired by the mere mention of Paul Simon. 

We did not, however, talk about any ways to leave your lover nor did we discuss how we are always slip sliding away. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-15-2025: Listening to Interviews, Gibbs is Boss, Scrounging Up a Salad

 1. I spent a couple of hours over at The Bulwark today listening to Tim Miller interview David Frum and to Sarah Longwell converse with Robert Draper. I enjoy listening to journalists, writers, and thinkers who have what I'd call flexible points of view, who have been and are still willing to adjust their outlook as warranted. I thought both Frum and Draper looked at what's been happening in the world over the last several months with an aerial view, able to see shifts (e.g. Marjorie Taylor Greene), conflicts (e.g. in the leadership space left by the assassination of Charlie Kirk and in the tensions that have arisen since Tucker Carlson's interview of Nick Fuentes), and what we might see in the future with a wide lens, with a mostly dispassionate tone and a keen sense of how complex and complicated things in our world always are and always have been. 

2. As I've written before, sometimes I think it's best for our neighborhood to bring Gibbs in the house when he goes on a barking jag in the back yard. 

For months now, he's been very good about coming to the back porch when I say his name in a quiet voice. I never yell at Gibbs. 

I lure him into the house and reward his obedience with shredded sharp cheddar cheese. 

Well, Gibbs got wise to this obey/reward strategy of mine and has created one of his own. 

Now, from time to time, he'll ask to go outside, not because he needs to, but because he wants cheese.

Within a minute or so of going out, he'll bark at the back door. I open it to let him in and he looks at me, his eyes saying:

"Uh, cheese?"

I laugh, give him some cheese, and surrender to the reality of how both of us have a degree of control over the other -- and, I have to admit, I think Gibbs might have the upper paw! 

3. Writing, listening to interviews, racking up 3000 steps, solving puzzles, including the Sunday NYTimes crossword puzzle, being bossed around by Gibbs -- well, I just didn't feel like leaving the house today (not unusual for me). I knew I needed some groceries, but I figured I could make due with what I had on hand to fix a satisfying dinner. 

I was right. 

I drained the water out of a block of tofu. I popped open a can of Trader Joe's Greek Chickpeas, and pulled vegetables out of the fridge. I sorted out the last of my garden salad mix and put it in a bowl with carrots, red pepper, celery, yellow squash, some Greek chickpeas, and a handful of tofu cubes. 

It worked. 

I enjoyed the salad and I left room inside myself for a nice bowl of popcorn about ninety minutes later. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-14-2025: I Listen to More of Leah Sottile's Podcast, Kellogg Elks Burger Night, Quick Visit to The Lounge

 1. It's a terrible situation. 

On March, 13, 2019, eighteen year old Sarah Zuber left her home in Rainier, OR to take a walk around 11 p.m. Her sister found her dead in a ditch along the road about 400 feet from their home the next morning. 

It's an unsolved death.

In season 2 of the podcast, Hush, Leah Sottile tells the story of her investigation into this unsettling story. 

I listened to the second episode today. 

The episode moves in two directions.

The first direction fascinated me. 

Leah Sottile takes her listeners into a professional quandary she's working to sort out. 

She wonders what is the difference between the work she's doing as a journalist and the writing and broadcasting others do in the genre of True Crime books and podcasts and television shows and internet videos. 

Sottile expresses her devotion to journalistic ethics and how they guide her work in substantiating stories, verifying sources, and to investigate as a way of getting as close as possible to the truth, not concerning herself with being entertaining or fitting her story into a well-established true crime story telling formula. 

The second direction this episode takes involves the work of law enforcement as they have tried to figure out what happened to Sarah Zuber that night. 

Possibly, the most riddling dimension of this part of the story is the fact that the medical examiner changed her conclusion of Sarah's death from inconclusive to saying Sarah died by alcohol consumption and hypothermia. 

I don't know where Leah Sottile will take her investigation into the law enforcement's work or if she'll return to this changed autopsy report. 

I know that in Episode 3, she investigates the public's response to Sarha Zuber's death and the investigation. 

2. There was a time, not that long ago, when I would have, as they say, binge listened to this second season of Hush, even knowing all the episodes have not been posted yet. 

I can't do that anymore, though. 

Today, I needed time to digest the two episodes I've listened to and to get away from it for a day or two.

I picked the perfect way to get some distance from this awful story. 

I met Ed and Nancy uptown at the Elks for burgers. 

I had fun listening to others' stories and doing a little yakkin' myself.

I loved my burger. 

The burgers at the Elks are the perfect size for me. I don't know if the patties are a quarter pound or smaller than that and I couldn't tell you the circumference of the bun. 

All I can say with certainty is that they aren't huge and by being such a reasonable size, the Elks burger is perfect for me. 

The size is perfect and my burger was cooked perfectly and I totally enjoyed my side of fries. 

Thanks to my pre and post-transplant caution, I hadn't been to the Kellogg Elks for a burger for quite a long time and I was very happy that it felt right and safe to return and I look forward to going back for the next Burger Night on December 12th. 

3. After enjoying our burgers, Nancy, Ed, and I skipped across the street for a short session at The Lounge. 

We had a good time joking around about different things with Bob and Tracy and yakkin' some more with each other. 

Back home, I continued to relax with a bowl of popcorn and, taking my time, I managed to complete the always challenging, but fair and gimmick-free, Saturday New York Times crossword puzzle. 

I also achieved my current goal of 3000 steps a day and just that modest number of steps helped me sleep deeply and peacefully through the night. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-13-2025: Dr. Bieber Says Things Look Great!, Friends Encourage Me to Keep Moving, Scott and Kathleen Expand My Listening Options

1. If all goes according to plan, it will be three months before I open up my laptop and write about a post-transplant visit to a doctor's office. 

I did, however, have another one today. 

I honestly couldn't hope for a more positive visit. 

Dr. Bieber confirmed my observation that my lab numbers look great. My "bad" cholesterol is down. My filtration and creatinine numbers improved. My blood pressure was solid. I'm not retaining water in my lower legs or ankles to any concerning degree. The amount of protein in my urine decreased. 

Dr. Bieber liked my news that my in-home exercising has contributed significantly to alleviating me of the discomforts I've experienced over the last four months. 

So, I'll continue to go in for labs monthly (on Winning Wednesdays!) and I see Dr. Bieber in February and return to Sacred Heart in January and April for specialty blood work and in May for my next annual exam which will mark my transplant's second anniversary. 

2.  Because of entries I made here at kelloggbloggin', I've heard from several friends over the past few days. Byrdman, Terry T, Liz, Kathy H., Carol Y.. and Rich B wrote me encouraging messages in support of my efforts to get my body moving again. 

They all have experience with improving their well-being and I will imagine them being with me, encouraging me, holding me accountable as I work to stay in motion day after day.

3. I also received two wonderful responses to having mentioned my recent plunge into the symphonies of Johannes Brahms. 

Before I mention my friends, I've been thinking a lot about when Debbie and I used to hang out at the Old Line Bistro in Beltsville, MD. A good and enjoyable crowd of people hung out there and so there was a lot of great conversation at the bar and sometimes the talking nearly drowned out the music playing over the house sound system. 

But, from time to time, I'd hear a fragment of a song by Tom Petty or The Cars or Mumford & Sons ("The Boxer" featuring Jerry Douglas), Elle King and others and I'd snap to attention to that music and immediately know the song.

That's where I want to get with Brahms, and as long as were on the subject, Beethoven. 

It all comes from familiarity and I'm trying to grow more familiar with Brahms' symphonies and Beethoven's. 

Then when someone says to me, as Scott Dalgarno did yesterday, "You take them [Brahm's symphonies] in remembering that they are following in the wake of Beethoven's 9 symphonies. Who dare write a symphony after Beethoven's #3, 5, 7 and 9? But for my money the Brahms 2 (which I heard recently with the Oregon Symphony) seems every bit as monumental." 

I would love to be able to read this sentence and immediately have themes from the Beethoven symphonies Scott mentioned as well as Brahm's second all be at the front of my mind and memory. 

They aren't. 

"Running Down a Dream" is at the front. So is "Let's Go" and Jerry Douglas' dobro solo during "The Boxer". "X's & O's" lives in my memory -- even though I don't always remember Elle King's name (sigh). 

Right now, Brahm's 4th is getting close to being a permanent resident in my memory. 

But in order to fully experience Scott's assessment of Brahm's 2 in relation to Beethoven's #3, 5, 7, and 9, I'll need to go to Spotify and play them. I have in my lifetime listened to them all -- and listened to Brahm's #2 often lately, but none of them are embedded in my mind enough to be able to call them up on the spot by memory. 

Will I ever reach that level of familiarity with these symphonies? 

Good question! 

I also heard from Kathleen Horton who wondered if I'd listened to Brahm's Schicksalslied.

I'm not sure if I have.  

SiriusXM's Symphony Hall channel plays choral music exclusively as Sunday night becomes Monday morning, and it could be that this composition of Brahm's played while I was asleep or half asleep. 

But I've never listened to it on purpose. 

Soon I will. 

As with the friends who responded to my writing about exercising, Scott and Kathleen's posts encourage me to keep listening to classical music, to continue to try to absorb it into my memory, and to learn more about it -- I know so little despite hours and hours of having it on while in college at NIC and at Whitworth and listening at home in Spokane, Eugene, Greenbelt, and Kellogg and in the car wherever I've lived. 

But Tom Petty's songs have stuck in my memory more reliably! 

As have Guy Clark's. 

And Debbie Diedrich's. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-12-2025: Don't Sit and Wait, Brahms' Symphonies, Green Salad and Elbow Macaroni

 1. Normally, when I put my mocha pot on the burner to create the black liquid gold that is the soul of my morning lattes, I go back to the living room, sit down, and continue whatever puzzle I've started or blog I have going. 

Today I decided I'm going to quit sitting down while my latte is process, while bacon fries, while potatoes or anything else cooks, while my popcorn pops, or while I wait for toast to pop out of the toaster. 

Instead, as I did today, I'll walk in place. Swing my arms. Today, I broke up the monotony of walking in place by pacing between the kitchen and living room. 

Gibbs stared at me like I'd lost my mind. 

Well, I did lose a couple of things: unsteadiness on my feet and lightheaded fogginess in my head. 

2. I really don't have analytical language to intelligently explain why I am enjoying the four symphonies of Johannes Brahms so much.  I can say that listening to these symphonies repeatedly, playing them from time to time during the day and nightly while I sleep, becoming more and more familiar with them, and experiencing new feelings as I listen to them repeatedly is giving me great pleasure. 

3. I had put together a decent green salad the other day and some of it was left over. A day or two later, I made a decent dish of macaroni and a vegetarian tomato sauce. Well, to me, it was better than decent. I liked it a lot. 

When I boiled elbow macaroni for that vegetarian dish, I had a small container of macaroni left over.

Late this afternoon, I peered into the fridge. 

I saw the left-over salad. 

I saw the left-over elbow macaroni. 

I saw a culinary marriage made in heaven.

I combined the leafy salad, having added some radish slices and yellow squash pieces, with the macaroni and dressed it with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and added a generous amount of grated parmesan cheese. 

It worked. 

Beautifully. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-11-2025: I Get Moving, Theoretical Origins of MAGA, A New Leah Sottile Podcast

1. Yesterday, I wrote about how I thought physical movement would help improve my balance and the odd sensations I feel in my head. I heard back from three different friends: Nini expressed concern about what I said about myself and hoped my doctor visit on Thursday would go well; Liz (she and I are the same age) told me she experiences the same sorts of things that I do and agreed that exercise helps diminish them; Kathleen wondered in an email if what I was experiencing was part of what comes with aging and possibly doesn't have much to do with my kidney transplant. I agree with Kathleen. The only way I connected my kidney situation to the symptoms I described yesterday was wondering if they were related to the medication Jardiance I took and to the steroid infusions from back in June. By the way, Kathleen and I are both in our 70s and she kindly told me that she, too, has experienced what I have been as she's grown older.

I focused some of my effort today on walking in place, being sure to swing my arms so my Fitbit would record my steps and walking with arm-swinging purpose around the house. 

I racked up over 3000 steps and already I am feeling a difference in my legs and some relief of the sensations in my head. (Those sensations always diminish as the day passes.)

I will continue to write myself reminder notes and make lists about everything! 

2. Yesterday, I wrote that I wanted to get back to some of the things I've enjoyed doing that I've strayed away from over the last four months. 

In that spirit, I spent time today listening to podcasts. 

Two stand out. 

I discovered that the hosts of Shield of the Republic, Eric S. Edelman and Eliot A. Cohen, conducted an interview with Laura Field discussing her new book, Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right in which Field explores the intellectual and philosophical underpinnings of MAGA and the past and current intellectuals and institutions that have shaped the political theories that have shaped what she calls the New Right. 

I've read some about Curtis Yarvin and Peter Thiel and some about the thinkers and ideas that have influenced J. D. Vance. I've also read a bit about the historian Leo Strauss and the German thinker Carl Schmitt, an intellectual supporter of German National Socialism and a participant in that movement. 

Listening to Laura Field discuss her book helped me understand better a variety of contemporary writers and professors, including Strauss and Schmitt, whose insights oppose liberalism

The podcase involved some healy lifting and I'm not sure I've got the brain power to read Laura Field's book, but I might give it a try and add to the reading I've already done about white power movements in the USA. 

Before interviewing Laura Field, Edelman and Cohen pay tribute to Dick Cheney and comment on last Tuesday's elections. 

If you'd like to listen to this podcast, here's the link:Why MAGA Loves Illiberalism | Shield of the Republic 

3. I've written quite a bit in this blog about my admiration of Leah Sottile and, in fact, it was her work investigating the Bundy family and her podcast on Timothy McVeigh that led me to read up more on what Professor Belew calls the white power movements in the USA. 

A while back, I noted in this blog that I listened to the first season of Sottile's podcast, Hush. It tells the story of Jesse Johnson, whom the state of Oregon incarcerated for twenty-five years for a murder he didn't commit. Hush tells his story and more. 

Now Leah Sottile has completed a second season of Hush entitled "Love Thy Neighbor". 

I listened to the first episode today, which begins to tell the story of the 2019 death of teenager Sarah Zuper who was found dead in a ditch just 400 feet from her front door in Rainier, OR. 

The case has never been solved and this podcast examines the circumstances surrounding her death and the factors that have contributed to the case never being solved. 

All of the episodes have not come out yet. 

You can listen to the first five episodes at Oregon Public Radio,here. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-10-2025: Pondering My Current Health, Getting Things Done, Temporary Lost Pleasures

1.  I am very cautiously optimistic about my heath right now. 

Back in June, because of inflammation in my new kidney and concern that my kidney might be showing early signs of being rejected, the pros did two things: they ordered a kidney biopsy and two infusions of steroids. 

Those procedures took some wind out of my sails and then on July 24th the team prescribed Jardiance and I started taking it. 

I don't know how much the changes in how I felt was caused by these new developments or if a change began to occur independent of the Jardiance and the biopsy/steroids. (I stopped taking Jardiance in early September.)

But I do know that over the last four months or so, I haven't felt right in my head -- maybe it's foggy brain, maybe it's lightheadedness, sometimes it's headaches -- I can't be precise. My short term memory has also been erratic, moving me to write down everything I need to do whether making lists or reminder notes. Writing down stuff has been a great help. 

My balance, especially around the house, has also been a bit wobbly -- no falls, but off and on unsteadiness. 

My day to day life has been normal while this has been going on: family dinners, trips to Winning Wednesday, a vacation at the Wildhorse Resort, taking care of Gibbs and Copper, sessions at The Lounge, cooking, listening to classical music, writing in this blog, etc. and so I have proceeded day to day unimpeded. 

I have come to think (this is me writing cautiously) that possibly physical movement counteracts the weirdness I feel in my head and the unsteadiness I experience. Even driving seems to help. It's good for me to get out of the house and I've begun an exercise routine in the house. 

So, we'll see. Most days, the weird sensations in my head diminish as the day proceeds and often by bed time, I feel fairly normal again. 

But how about if just moving around helps, whether it's walking in place, running errands, moving around the casino, or walking outdoors?

Unfortunately, over the last four months, I haven't felt very motivated to move around. 

That's got to change. 

By the way, I see Dr. Bieber on Thursday and we'll continue past conversations about these things I've described.

We'll also discuss the very good news that the blood work I had done a week ago looked very good. That new kidney is chugging right along, doing its blood filtering best to keep my system clean. 

2. I did some physical moving around today. I paid bills uptown and I took our recycling out to the transfer station. I also did a little bit of shopping at Yoke's. I did a couple short stints of walking in place at home. I enjoyed how I felt while and after competing these tasks. 

3. Over the last four months, I've fallen out of what had been some of my favorite habits and routines. I haven't been reading. I haven't been listening to some of my favorite podcasts. Tonight I started to reverse that a bit and reminded myself that Leah Sottile has a second season of Hush out and I listened to a couple of thoughtful videos posted by the Bulwark. 

Debbie used to walk in place in the basement at Adrienne's house during her stay there back in 2020-21 while watching episodes of whatever on the television. 

I realized tonight that I could watch videos like I watched tonight on my laptop on the Vizio and walk in place while watching and listening. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-09-2025: Freshening, Traveling, Cooking

1. I freshened up the homestead today with the vacuum cleaner and a broom. About time!  

2.  If government agencies will be funded this month after today's developments, maybe Debbie can make more definite plans about when to return to Kellogg. 

3. I am enjoying using the wok as a sort of soup pot. Today I stir fried chicken pieces and added vegetables, stir fried them, and added a moderate about of chicken broth, soy sauce, and Thai wheat noodles and what resulted was not a stew exactly but a mixture I ate from a bowl, but not as brothy as most soups. 

Whatever it was, it worked. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-08-2025: Copper is Aging, Abby and I Yak at The Lounge, Tim Joins Us and Later a Great Phone Call

 1.  I keep a close eye on Copper as he ages, especially regarding how much he eats. I feed him twice a day and right now he eats most of the food I put down but not all of it and I don't really know if he's eating any his dry food from the feeder at all. It's reassuring to me that he hasn't quit eating, but I wonder if his appetite is beginning to wane. 

I spent about an hour and a half with Copper today lying with him on the bed. He seemed to enjoy the attention. In a perfect world, Gibbs wouldn't bark at him and chase him if he were in the living room. I'd love to have Copper with me when I'm in other parts of the house than the bedroom or Vizio room, but that just can't happen and I accept that -- and, I think Copper does, too! 

He and Gibbs are great companions. 

2. Abby had texted me a couple of days ago to say he'd be at The Lounge this afternoon and asked me to join him. 

I did. 

We yakked for nearly three hours and covered a lot of ground -- mostly personal history in Kellogg and I learned more about Abby and how he got to know Kate and more. 

We had a superb time -- lots of information and lots of laughs.

3. About a half an hour or so before I went home to fix dinner, Tim O'Reilly strolled in. 

The great conversation Abby and I were having continued with Tim joining us. 

Tim and I were choir members together at North Idaho College and after I returned home, Tim and I continued conversations from Friday and Saturday, not in person, but on the phone. We did more than just wax nostalgic. That time at NIC was formative for both of us and it's clear from what we talked about that the impact of that school year (1972-73) is very much alive in us, each in our own way, and is a fascinating time in our life to talk together about. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-07-2025: Uncertainty About Flights, Food Pantry Coming to the Elks, I Once Loved Making Music

1. The reality of government shutdown prompted flight cancellations is upon us and I'm relieved that Misty flew out of Newark, heading to Fairbanks, on Thursday and arrived back home safely after a terrific time getting to know her newfound family better in Illinois and New York. 

Things are uncertain about Debbie's return to Kellogg. 

I don't have much more to say about that. 

2. Ed and I met at The Lounge at 3 o'clock this afternoon. I was especially happy to hear that he had a great time with Stu today. They toured the Stuart property near Cataldo, looked over the logging project the family had done a few months ago, and enjoyed some jolly yakkin'. 

Harley and Candy came in and after some joking around, Harley shared some really good news that by the end of this coming week, the Kellogg Elks with have a pantry set up outside their building where people can put food on its shelves and those in need of food can come by and take food for themselves. 

I'll include in a future blog post when the pantry is set up. 

3. I heard reliable news that Tim O'Reilly was back in town. He'd gone back to Virginia about a month ago, but returned to Kellogg a few days ago to work on cleaning up the Blue Lagoon building near Medimont that he owns again, preparing to put it on the market. 

Time strolled into The Lounge and we talked some about real estate and then we had an uplifiting session of yakking about our days at North Idaho College and the many mutual friends we had, especially through our involvement in choir. 

Much like when I was in high school, participating in choir and band at NIC was my most enjoyable activity, outside of studying and learning. I was a mediocre singer and baritone horn/valve trombone player, but that didn't matter. My mediocrity added to the collective effort of the choirs and bands I played in and we, as a whole, made joyful music. The whole was much better than the individual parts. 

In addition, I made both friends and acquaintances I thoroughly enjoyed and, to this day, when I see some of the people I once made music with, I am uplifted by remembering what we once did together and, in some cases, build on what we loved in the past with sharing in the things going on our lives these fifty plus years later. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-06-2025: Disposing of Pills at Walgreens, Yakkin' with Youngsters, Delicious Family Dinner

 1. In the weeks immediately following my kidney transplant, the transplant pros prescribed a variety of different medications to help my new kidney and my old body work toward detente. 

It wasn't long before the transplant team took some of those medications off my pill list, leaving me with a number of not empty pill bottles holding medications I didn't need any longer. 

Today, dropped in at Walgreens on Appleway in CdA with a gallon-sized ziploc bag full of both no longer needed and expired pills.

At the pharmacy, I immediately found what I'd read I would find there: a receptacle that looked much like an outdoor mailbox. I opened the hatch and dropped the bag in and now those pills will be taken care of and are no longer in our house. 

2. It's been a while, but over the years I've written often about how much Debbie and I enjoy the company of youngsters -- I'm referring to men and women in their twenties and thirties and, now, in their forties. We made the acquaintance of several of these youngsters at the Old Line Bistro in Beltsville, MD and the same experience happened frequently when we lived in Eugene, especially in taprooms and breweries. 

This week, I've had three warm and enjoyable experiences with youngsters. 

First, as I've mentioned, it's always great when Jaylene draws my blood at the Kootenai lab. She grew up in Kellogg, lives up Moon Gulch now, and knew Paul and Carol when she was a high school student before graduating about seven or eight years ago. She's engaging, sweet tempered, and very good at her job. 

Second, I enjoyed the youthful enthusiasm and energy of the woman about to finish her university studies in preparation to become a pharmacist. She's doing a field experience at Yoke's pharmacy and talking with her about living in Oregon and my enjoyment of the East coast (her brother works for AmTrak back east) and other things gave my day a welcome boost of energy. 

Lastly, the youngster who cut my hair at Supercuts today was also an energetic and interested conversationalist and I appreciated the interest she took in my uncertainty about whether Debbie will be returning to Kellogg for Thanksgiving and in the reasons why Debbie has been to Illinois and is now in New York. 

I never know who will be cutting hair when I walk into Supercuts, but I'd enjoy it if this haircutter was working any time I drop in. 

3. Christy has been recovering this week after falling ill on Saturday. 

She's doing much better now and tonight we enjoyed the family dinner we were scheduled to have last Sunday. 

Paul and Carol mixed a cranberry cocktail (I drank plain sparkling water) and, for our appetizer, I brought bite sized pieces of Trader Joe's Roasted Tomato and Parmesan Focaccia bread and put out a couple small bowls of Trader Joe's Everything but the Bagel seasoned cashews and almonds. 

Christy made a delicious Broccoli Crunch salad and Carol baked a golden beef pie. 

We all loved the food and kept ourselves stimulated by talking about the current state of things locally and nationally, an inexhaustible subject that we discussed with equal parts of grace and bewilderment. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-05-2025: My Blood Work Looks Solid, It's Another Winning Wednesday, Breakfast for Dinner

 1. I arrived at Ed's house shortly after 7 this morning. We piled into the Camry and water skied over the puddly 4th of July Pass and splashed into the parking lot in front of the lab I go to at Kootenai Medical Center. It was time for another blood draw and, as always, KHS graduate Jaylene drew my blood expertly and we enjoyed some fun yakking. 

Results started to parachute into my patient portal a few hours later and I liked what I saw.  In these numbers, I see stability, small improvements even, and no red flags. 

I hope the kidney pros like the numbers, too.

2. On my way out of the lab, I broke my fast at Big Blue Coffee with a chocolate croissant and a latte. 

Perfect. 

Ed and I piled back into the Camry and jet skied south to the CdA Casino. 

I grow happier all the time with this routine of having blood draws done on Wednesday and then heading to the casino for Winning Wednesday. 

We had a great time. I fell into a spell of bad luck to begin, but my luck slowly and steadily improved after Ed and I had a conference around 10:30 and agreed to keep playing. 

Ed was having good luck -- which continued -- and I was ready to take a chance and see if my luck might improve -- and it did.

My last spin of the day was a pretty good one and completed my comeback. 

I now had a ticket to cash in that would put back into my playing money envelope at home exactly the same amount I took out of it this morning. 

I considered that a Winning Wednesday! 

3. Ed had bought a box of potatoes from the Rotary to give away and he gave me a bag of them this morning. 

Back home, I chopped up one potato to fry, broke two eggs over the fried spuds and when the eggs were nearly done cooking, I put a slice of sharp cheddar cheese over the potato and eggs and cooked some fresh spinach to add to this mixture. 

 It worked. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-04-2025: Copper's Lab Results -- Thumbs Up, Voting Across the USA, Delightful Flu Shot

1. Our vet, Dr. Cook, called me today with the results of Copper's bloodwork. His white blood cell count was up a little, not an alarming amount, and everything else including his thyroid, kidneys, liver, and more looked great. I'll take Copper to Dr. Cook in about a month to recheck the white blood cell count and see how it looks. 

That her labs looked so solid confirms my impression of Copper. Yes, he is losing weight and, at the same time, he goes through each day with vitality, his eyes look bright and alive, and he has no problem jumping up on and down off the bed. In these ways, he seems in good shape -- that said, I know he's an older cat and I've been several cats whose old age caught up with them suddenly and they passed away. 

For example, the air went out of Copper's deceased pal Luna's sails suddenly and within a week or ten days, she literally expired. 

2. I am all but certain that the last time I walked to voting place and cast a ballot was in 1996, the year Robert Dole ran against Bill Clinton for the presidency. 

In 1998, thanks to a citizen initiative, voting by mail became a law in Oregon. Once it was established, I missed walking or driving to a physical polling place, mostly out of nostalgia. 

I came to enjoy, however, the experience of sitting at a table or desk at home with my ballot and being able to leisurely think through my decisions and the convenience of mailing the ballot or dropping it in a ballot receptacle. 

But, then, in 2016, living in Maryland, I voted at  a physical site, the Beltsville-Laurel Senior Center and voted on the first day of early voting. I felt a surge of joy when I arrived, and all the parking spots were taken. Scores of people were voting that day. Before long, a voter vacated a spot and I could park the Sube and my sense of patriotism and belonging grew when I walked inside the Senior Center and the lines were long. The  voting place was well-staffed and it wasn't long before a volunteer handed me a ballot and I secretly cast my votes. 

This afternoon, I voted in Kellogg. I immediately found a parking spot. I didn't stand in a line. This polling place was also sufficiently staffed, but there was no wait. 

I once again felt patriotic and that I belonged in my home town while casting my votes on questions that will have, I think, lasting impacts on the quality of life in our town and our county. 

I had four decisions to make. The most prominent questions involved levies for the school district and the sheriff's department. 

3. I then coasted down to the Yoke's Pharmacy. The transplant team gave me the green light to get a flu shot. 

A student finishing her pharmacy degree at Idaho State University and getting on the job training and experience in the field, as part of her degree work, administered the shot. 

Before going to ISU, she had been a student at Willamette University in Salem and we had fun talking about living in Oregon and the natural beauty of the Willamette Valley, the Pacific Ocean, and the Cascade Mountains. 

Our light and friendly conversation made the experience of being vaccinated pleasant and I found myself thinking that she will a superb pharmacist, coupling her scientific knowledge with an easy and outgoing manner. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-03-2025: Copper's Well-Being is Stable, Christy's and Debbie's Illnesses Are Weakening, A Tomato-Okra-Corn Dinner

 1. As Copper moves deeper into old age, I take her into the vet every six months for an exam and bloodwork. I will hear from Dr. Cook later about Copper's bloodwork, but upon examining Copper, Dr. Cook didn't discover anything much different from the six months ago. Copper continues to shrink. Despite eating heartily twice a day, Copper continues to lose small amounts of weight. I knew this was true from petting him and feeling his spine and other bones moving closer to the surface of his body. 

Everything else, however, is great: heart, lungs, joints, the works. I told Dr. Cook that Copper's behavior is stable, that he has no trouble jumping up on the bed, and that his routines remain in place. 

We'll see if anything comes up in the bloodwork. 

2. Christy's health report sounded better today. She told Carol and me that the headache she's had since falling ill was much better, as was her upset digestive system. On Sunday, I brought Christy four cans of Progresso chicken noodle soup. It turned out that over the years, Christy had never eaten Progresso soup. She enjoyed her first foray into Progresso world a lot. I felt very happy that it worked for her and that she might enjoy more Progresso soup in the future -- full well knowing that hers, Carol's, and my homemade soups are better! 

One of the children at the get together of members of Debbie's family about ten days ago in Roscoe, IL had a powerful cold and Debbie caught it. As of today, thank goodness, the virus has weakened and Debbie, too, is recovering from her illness. 

3.  We tend to have cans of tomato, okra, and corn on hand and I warmed up a can tonight and added a can of garbanzo beans to the vegetables and fixed a pot of jasmine rice. It's a great combination that I enhance with Bragg's Liquid Amino. Overall, I prefer not eating canned goods (with the exception of tomatoes and beans), but I have no hesitation about popping open a can of tomato, okra, and corn and enjoying it the way I did this evening. 

Three Beautiful Things 11-02-2025: Postponed Family Dinner, Yoke's and Beach Bum Bakery, Curing Grogginess

 1. Our original plan was to have a family dinner late this afternoon. Sadly, a bug struck Christy down and we all agreed to enjoy our dinner on Thursday instead. Christy told Carol and me she needed chicken soup and a dozen eggs and I went over to Yoke's and took care of her request and put her groceries on her porch. 

2. I also stopped in at Beach Bum Bakery. I decided it would be fun to try Rebekah's potato bread. I also indulged and bought myself an oatmeal raisin and a ginger molasses cookie. 

These were awesome purchases. As I hoped, the toast I made with the potato bread was out of sight and I love Rebekah's cookies. 

3. Suddenly this afternoon I became groggy. I was working on the Strands puzzle and kept falling asleep in my chair and I decided I'd rather fall asleep in the prone position, so I joined Copper in the bedroom, crawled under the covers, enjoyed having Copper press against my lower leg, and I fell into a blissful coma nap. 

It took me a while to pry myself out of bed once I woke up. 

I fixed a cup of black tea with milk, returned to my chair, and after a few hours of staring at the puzzle, trying to concentrate, and repeatedly falling asleep, I finally solved Strands! 

What does it say about this oddball day that finally solving a Times puzzle was the day's highlight? Or was it those delicious cookies? Or that superb potato bread toast? 

Ha! 

Three Beautiful Things 11-01-2025: Theater Thrills in Manhattan, Post-Surgery at The Lounge, Call Me Deacon Blues

1. Debbie sent news and a photograph from New York that jolted me with joy. The photograph was of Debbie, Misty, Adrienne, and Sally. They look smashing, happy to be together and, if I may project, happy to be in New York City. The news Debbie relayed was that the production of Wicked was over the top, awesome, magnificent, whatever highly positive word you might want to use! Misty said that seeing the show was one of the five best moments of her life. 

2.So, Debbie, Misty, Adrienne, and Sally got to go to Manhattan and see live theater -- I haven't heard if Adrienne and Sally enjoyed the play Art --, but you know what they didn't get to do? 

Go to The Lounge. 

I did. 

I almost slept through our plan to meet at three o'clock, but luckily I pulled myself out of an unplanned coma nap right at three o'clock and blasted uptown and joined Ed at the bar. 

Abby and Kate were also there. I very much enjoyed yakkin' with them and Ed and with Cas. 

As Ed was getting ready to go pick up some dinner for Nancy and him, Harley and Candy strolled in. 

On Monday, Harley had had -- I hope I get the name of this procedure right -- reverse shoulder replacement surgery on Monday. 

Harley had all good news about the surgery (aside from having to spend Monday night in the hospital instead of going home as planned. Oxygen levels.) 

He is upright, not in any great pain, and looks great. 

We talked a bit about the dire possibilities for pain the medical pros warned him this surgery can have.

But, so far, Harley has not experienced this agony and is grateful. 

Debbie and I have talked frequently about how much easier my post-transplant recovery turned out to be in contrast to the warnings the pros gave us about what I (and we) might experience. 

I'll mention one. 

We were all but certain I'd have to stay in Spokane in a motel/hotel for a week or more after the surgery. 

But I didn't. 

Without hesitation, when I was released from the hospital after three nights, the pros at Sacred Heart agreed that I could go home as long as I didn't have any problems riding in the car to come back to Spokane for frequent blood work and clinic appointments. 

I didn't. 

No problems at all. 

I was fortunate and prevailed over the worst-case scenario possibilities and it looks like Harley is prevailing as well. 

3. The Dodgers won the World Series tonight and so I lost the modest wager I made last week at the Spokane Tribe Casino's Caesar's sports book. 

Losing this bet made me think of the character in Steely Dan's song "Deacon Blues". 

He muses that out in the big world "they got a name for the winners in the world" and, knowing he's not a winner, he further reflects, "I want a name when I lose". 

Immediately, a winner's name comes to his mind: "They call Alabama the Crimson Tide". 

Crimson Tide triggers a loser's name in his mind and he says:

"Call me Deacon Blues."

So, for the moment at least, I'm going to borrow this name since I lost. 

It'll wear off soon, but for now:

Call me Deacon Blues. 

Three Beautiful Things 10-31-2025: Beach Bum Bakery, The Halloween Spirit, Wondrous Introductions and Reunions

 1. Our auto/home insurance bill came today and I didn't procrastinate. I immediately wrote the check and headed uptown and mailed the payment. 

I hadn't been to Beach Bum Bakery for a while and had a warm visit today. I especially enjoyed listening to Rebecca tell me about the dog her family adopted and their affection for him. 

I bought two superb items, a mini loaf of sourdough rye bread and a ginger molasses cookie. I love rye bread and this loaf is chewy, packed with rye and sourdough flavor, and perfect to eat spread with butter or to make an open face ham and cheese sandwich. 

2. It's never a certainty what kind of trick or treater turnout we'll have here on Little Cameron. I was ready if we had around sixty costumed ghouls show up, but the actual number of children who came by fell far short of what I was ready for. 

I'll confess -- maybe I do this every year at Halloween -- that the Halloween spirit just doesn't slay me year after year. So, I couldn't say when the last time I went to a Halloween party was nor do I know the last time I put on a mask or a costume. 

It's kind of odd, really.

When I was in plays and did other stage work in Eugene years ago, I loved dressing up as whatever character I played and losing myself in trying to inhabit that character's speech, mannerisms, and place in the story. 

But that enjoyment has never carried over to Halloween. 

Go figure. 

That said, it's fun and a pleasure to have kids, no matter how young or old, show up on the porch and present themselves as characters, animals, creatures, or whatever they might be. 

So, I was a little disappointed that so few trick or treaters came by. 

I think I understand why and I hope the children had fun doing the other things available to them as alternatives to going door to door. 

I simply would have enjoyed more youngsters coming here. 

3. Saturday, November 1st, is Adrienne's birthday. I'm very happy that Debbie's cousin, Sally, is treating Adrienne to a performance of the play Art at the Music Box theater. Debbie and Misty will be going to the Guthrie to see Wicked. Before they attend these matinees, the four of them will lunch together in Manhattan and Sally and Misty will meet for the first time. 

It's all wondrous to me. 

The last ten days have been a time of family togetherness for members of Debbie's immediate and extended family in ways we could have never imagined just two years ago -- all spurred by Misty suddenly and miraculously coming into our lives.