Saturday with Band

I rose early again, having had a decent night’s sleep around 7. The house was cold, but I finally turned on the heat later, as the night was cool. The clouds were gone, and later, the sun would be the bleaching California light we get in Oregon in the late summer. I was joining friends at Taqueria Corona in Forest Grove in the late afternoon to see a friend’s band, Tequila Daydream, play a set.

Continuing the narrative, I found my usual coffee maker, a French press, and made liberal coffee from Equal Exchange. I was looking for a leisurely breakfast, so I had yogurt and a banana. I consumed breakfast while writing the blog for a few hours. Thursday, the day described, was not a busy day, and the blog was easy to finish in a few hours.

I was tired, and my back hurt. I decided to make it another quiet day (which, dear reader, will not make this an exciting blog; sorry!), and I had to prepare for a presentation at church on Sunday. I spent the next couple of hours writing out a plan for a short (about five-minute) presentation about Safe Sanctuary policies (abuse prevention) that has to be presented annually at a United Methodist Church. I wrote a Word document to read from and refer to as I do this on Sunday from the pulpit.

I print all that out and put it in Air Volvo. This way, I won’t forget my notes and will not have to do it from memory! I have to do two Sundays.

I have some catching up on mailings. I send a card like I do monthly to Susie’s facility owner. I used to mail the payment check in a fun card. I have kept the habit of mailing a card. They are good people and made Susie’s last year safe and full of love. I sent a card and a Crop Walk payment of $20 to Grace United Methodist Church in Lansing, Michigan. This is Leta’s (Susie’s mother) and Susie’s Michigan church, where Susie and I were married. Leta is rocking to support Crop Walk, a grassroots organization created in the 1940s to fight hunger in the USA.

Next, one of my Kickstarters is finishing, and I have to supply some updates. It is a graphic novel based on the short-lived TV show Kolchak: The Night Stalker. The show is available on Apple TV, and I spent just under $20 for the first season. Leaning on the hard-boiled reporter tired for Kolchak, the show is set in Chicago of the current, but long ago in 1974. Crime and corruption are themes with The Loop having a massage parlor. Indeed, nothing I found when I was there last week; The Loop is now high-end shops, food, theater, and museums. I am surprised by the music and how well done the show is. The tension is created by darkness, obviously done by filtering and shot during the day (like other TV shows from the same period, i.e., Wild Wild West) and gothic-like music with a bit of electronica. The music, I thought, was over-the-top but fun. While not scared, this is 1970s TV, I was a bit nervous. All the violence was shown in shadows or hinted at, and no blood. But the massage parlor gals were scantily clad and included folks of various races. Again, this reminds me of Star Trek and other shows from the 1960-70s. The first episode was a weak Ripper story.

I look forward to seeing how the show changes as the actors adjust to the material.

Lunch was chili I made a few weeks ago and froze. I put the bag from the freezer in a large glass measuring cup and took three tries to get it to be hot. I had that for lunch with a spoonful of sour cream. It was still good.

I read for a while because I was still tired. I dressed in a T-shirt under a floppy sweater and opened all the doors to raise the house above 64F, but all that did was raise me to 65F (18C). As I said above, I finally turned on the heat.

Dondrea, with Z, picks me up, and we take her vehicle to Forest Grove. We soon arrived, as the traffic was light. I buy the first round: a virgin Piña Colada for Z and a spicy margarita for Dondrea. Dondrea buys dinner. The rest of the church crowd soon shows up. The music soon starts, and the set mixes oldies and some newish alternate rock. The band and singers are excellent, and Andrew plays the banjo and some of his stuff. It was excellent.

The band finishes around 8, and we leave about 8:30 after hanging out with the band for a while. Dondrea drops me off, and soon, I will return to reading. Soon, I am in my pajamas, still reading about murder and crime in French Canada, and nod off in mid-sentence. I wake and, after a couple of rolls and overs, sleep until my alarm wakes me for Sunday.

Thanks for reading.