Story 16Oct2022: Sunday

I sort of gave up resting today and could not do it. I was lying down and reading, and then Mariah chatted with me about her IKEA adventures, and I decided to head to Portland. I stopped at the Pearl District, not getting very far inside Portland, and did Powell’s. My leg, my right leg started to hurt again from standing and looking at books. I could not resist, despite the pain, getting a new cookbook. I used to say it is not how many you have but how many feet of cookbooks you have. After removing the most unused or uninteresting ones, I still have a few feet left. I could not resist An Unapologetic Cookbook by Joshua Weissman with his “Better than Popeyes Chicken Sandwich” recipe.

So I parked Air Volvo in the garage and headed to Powell’s. The crossing to Powells uses a unique diagonal crosswalk–no, really. I walked around, resisting a few exciting SciFi books, but the cookbook was what I took with me. As the pain grew, it was time for other options. Next, I went to Von Eberts and ordered a beer.

There I read the hilarious entrance into the new cookbook and the recipes to make your own pickles, cheese, and sauces (ketchup included). This is based on the author’s belief that you must understand how your food is built to properly understand how and what you want to cook. A premiss that the basics matter is very close to my heart.

The beer was good, but Mariah was busy, so I enjoyed the book and drank a few beers slowly over a few hours. Then, at 6PM or so, I order; all of this is online (the waiters just deliver and take questions). They are the best wings there are (at least, I think so). I had medium, which is still spicy, with a vinegary hot and salty mix that mixes well with the smoked flavor and slight char. Previously, when it was FatHeads, there were signs that chickens lined up to be wings here–they wanted to be the best. I believe it.

I enjoyed my six wings; I was hungry. Four is really enough–they are huge (only strong and large chickens should apply).

Before all of this, I was starting my morning in a rush to write yesterday (Saturday’s blog), dress, eat breakfast, and get to Susie on time. I managed to wake before my alarm and tried to get going, but time just seemed to run faster this morning.

I was dressed and out the door at 9:45 and made the trip without speeding in record time. But I saw that the police were closing down many roads, and it was impossible to reach the church using the regular roads. At least Beaverton’s finest was busy, so I was unlikely to get their attention.

Susie was running behind as my request to be ready had not been heard, and Anessa was rushing with other care items for the other residents. No matter, being late for our church was rather normal for us. I saw some imaginative use of lanes with the pressure of all the traffic being pushed here and there by the street changes.

I managed, once Susie completed breakfast and her teeth were cared for, to get Susie into Air Volvo by pivoting her when she stood and lifting her onto the passenger seat in the front of the SUV. I adjusted her without too much trouble, as the leather seats let her slide easily.

We had to take the highways and reach First United Methodist Church only twenty minutes late. Everyone was happy to see us, and we had some coffee, just sips for Susie, and then headed out to the park near the church.

I resisted the urge to drive through the fountains with Susie in the wheelchair (It was 83F today–28.3C). The library was not open yet, and we headed back to Air Volvo.

I lifted Susie again into the front passenger seat with her helping more, and that required less adjustment–better. We returned to the highway, risking 217 and arriving legally and safely at hummingbird house. I unloaded Susie; no exciting ice skating moves this time, just a stand, pivot, lift, and in-wheelchair move (Air Volvo Death Drop with no revolutions). Anessa took over, and Susie had lunch and a nap in her plans. I left, as usual, with a kiss.

I reached home later, driving around some of the closed roads. I had an excellent ham and cheese sandwich with imported German mustard, locally made potato salad, and red cabbage (all from the German Deli in Metzger). I watched the rest of Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power last episode for the season and really liked it. Recommended. And that is where the story started with me resting…

So that was my day, ending here in the dark in Portland, drinking and eating in the Pearl District. I am still checking my messages, emails, and Slack updates, and so far, I have no issues. However, it is getting desert cold now that the sun is down. Time to head out, I think.

Thanks for reading.