Story 6May2022: Saturday with Opera

I slept in just a bit as I was up late driving back from board games, as usual, on Friday. I also had to write the blog as I was too late to write it on Friday (I was not home before Saturday started). So I slept in just before 7ish and started another rainy Oregon May morning.

I noticed I was covered with mud last night. My car mats I also saw later were dirty with the mud too. Kathleen, who I gave a lift home, and I must have stepped in some mud in the dark when getting into AIr Volvo. So clean pants for today, already clean and hanging up in the closet.

I managed more chia seed pudding, still soupy, for breakfast with a tiny bit of cream cheese swirl brioche from WholeFoods with liberal coffee. Yes, I am still drinking fair-trade coffee and have tried to drink liberal coffee every morning since President Trump was sworn in. It is a reminder that I must be vigilant every day as the nuts are out there now trying to strip folks of their ability to vote and remove our explicit and implied rights.

I collected the flower, which was also purchased at WholeFoods, and the excellent Bluetooth speakers. I brought bowls and popcorn. Then, I headed to the Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center at 3900 Pacific Highway, Room 44A in Air Volvo (with the mud from last night still showing). It was still a wet trip, and I managed to only trip the collision alarm; it sounds like a polite trolly bell, once; it was uneventful.

Susie and Terry, Susie’s roommate, were in bed, and I had to awaken Susie. I replaced the flowers with the new flowers and started the Opera party. I paid for Turandot, the 2019 telecast version, from the Metropolitan Opera (New York City) website. We could not see the version that Leta, Susie’s mother, Barb (sister), and Emma (neese) were watching in the theater. The Met was presenting the opera worldwide simultaneously in movie houses. We could not do the movie house, but we could at least watch it and hear the same Opera from 2019’s telecast. I also had popcorn!

So I paid the rent (4.99 plus a $5 donation) for the newest version (2019) and turned on the Bluetooth speakers. Soon we were enjoying the start of Turandot. Susie was able to have popcorn which she ate with due care. Terry had some too. I also brought some small table cloths for the small tables to be more formal. They loved that.

Turandot is less than three hours long when you don’t have to wait for the stage changes. I was sitting on a metal chair next to Susie and was just getting uncomfortable when the opera finished. We, of course, clapped at all the appropriate places.

A gal in a wheelchair stopped by, and we stopped the play. The older gal wanted to let us know how happy she was to see Susie’s husband with her watching an opera. She also said that her husband passed away so long ago, and he is not here to meet with her; she misses him still. She pointed out how suddenly your life can change–her knee just recently failed, and now she cannot walk or stand, so she is now in the Forest Grove facility. Indeed, a wise yet sad statement. We thanked her, and Susie will likely see her for dinner.

Susie’s lunch was ready, and it was time for me to head out; I was getting tired. I drove back in Air Volvo without incident, started laundry, and took a short nap. I connected with Evan, who had the day off–he works weekends, and we would meet for dinner.

I picked a local Italian place. I did not think the food was worth the price, so I will not give its name as it might have been an off night. I had eggplant parmesan, and it was just OK. The wine came in a can, no, really. Evan’s food was not great either. However, the ice cream, spumoni, was good.

We then found a new tap house in the new Beaverton commerce center to play board games, Central Station Taps. I had a beer, and so did Evan. We played the board game Vindication, an old fav that I helped design years ago and made here in the Greater Portland Area. Evan smoked me with more than a twenty-point lead at the end! He managed to suddenly get three trips to the monsters, losing two companions, but still getting monsters that gave him a pile of end-of-game points.

It is a beautiful board game, and I forgot how much, even when I am crushed, how much I like to play the game.

After that drumming, I headed home. Evan also returning to his digs in Portland. I started the blog and continued on with the laundry I started. Now I am strong enough to put it all away. It is so lovely to have chemotherapy in the rearview mirror now!