It is not my place to tell other people’s stories, but this story is now on the Internet, and I feel comfortable providing a link. Eric “Elric” Anderson unexpectedly passed away last week, and I plan to fly to Michigan for his service on 16 November @ 11AM in Laingsburg, Michigan. Please see the link here.
“Elric” was my friend since 5th grade. He was one grade higher than me, and we learned how to play Dungeons and Dragons together. He would laugh often and tell terrible jokes. I usually find myself when writing stopping and thinking about how would “Elric” say or write this. “Elric” is charging ahead now, laughing and calling us to join him in the next adventure.
Returning to the narrative, Halloween started with me rising early with my alarm at 7 and eventually heading it. I missed the off button this time, and it went off again as I debated whether I was asleep again. I was. I rose on the second alarm.
It was Halloween, and I wanted to finish the sermon for Sunday today. I got to writing with only a few distractions, some excellent, and avoided reading the news about the election, war, and even new recipes. Focus was required today!
The coffee was made from Equal Exchange French Roast, which is my last bag. I picked up more fair-exchange-certified coffee and will try a few other brands. I have a croissant and a banana to go with my coffee. While rushed, I noticed the flavors of Justice, Compassion, and Community in my cup, and Hope soon rose to enter the world again.
The blog took much of the morning with a few breaks to update the sermon with a few words, but mostly editing and dropping wooden language, which often slips into my writing. Also, Grammarly found some exciting ways to ruin my flow of words. Those were reversed.
I managed to publish the blog, but it did have three (or more) typos I saw later. One must be brave enough to publish with faults when writing a blog daily. It is a courageous act to push ‘Publish.’ Not every time do I find all the mistakes, especially on a rushed day. So, please forgive me when you wince when reading. No promises not to error again, and Grammarly adds a certain level of error that is difficult to prevent–I press the ‘accept’ button a lot less now.
I headed this time to McMinnamen’s Cedar Hill Crossing Pub. Scott suggested a change now that it was cold and wet. The Pub has a fire in the winter and feels quite homey even though it is a recent addition. Scott and I got a table near the fire. Tyler suggested that when texting details of “Elric’s” service, I drink a stout for him in memory of “Elric.” I ordered their Terminator Stout. Scott has an Impossible paddy in his burger, and I agreed that it was an excellent idea (mine was a Captain Neon burger with bacon and blue cheese, which did get a raised eyebrow). It was good.
Scott and I talked about travel and plans for Thanksgiving. I am joining Scott and his friends for Thanksgiving. We also talked about investments, and Scott thinks it is better to get a mix of bonds and equities, with the bonds creating earnings, so there is always a payment in the structure—something to fund his future withdrawals. He also does not want to be involved in stock picking as he thinks he would enjoy other things instead of watching the markets. Scott and I enjoy lunch, beer, and chatting. Scott was getting some REI waterproof shoes, something I may need to do.
I returned home via Safeway. There, I bought candy for trick-or-treaters and some meats to cook for jambalaya, which I want to try soon, according to the New Orleans School of Cooking recipe. I also finally remembered to get toothpaste. Yay! A spiral-cut ham was not on special, but at least some were for sale (an item that had disappeared from the summer). I bought the higher-quality smoked ham.
With all my goodies, I headed home. I put them away and got out some limited Halloween decorations. I found my yelling skeleton, a projector of a haunted house, and some blinking lights that I have lost for years and found in my office boxes. The few, about four groups, in various looks, primarily bright. My skeleton, a plastic foot-tall guy calling out for help from his cage, fascinated the younger kids. Older kids and former kids were focused on handfuls of Snickers and Almond Joy, all ‘fun’-sized and not the yelling skeleton. I called for the older folks holding back to come forward and grab some of the bounty offered. I already had five! I wanted none to remain.
I wrote my sermon between candy events, with the skeleton calling out when more folks arrived. Corwin showed up and finished off the pizza—the usual Papa Murphy’s Pumpkin-shaped Halloween pizza with cookie dough. Corwin soon left, happy to visit, have some candy, get a jar of pasta sauce I have spare, and grab some other groceries I always grab for him. I finished the cookies and had a few.
I returned to writing and finished the first draft of the sermon. More editing and some updates will follow, but it was completed on Thursday. I decided it was time for a break and read more Vampire Cookbook stories.
Soon, the rains are pouring down outside. Fall/Winter has started. I put on sleeping music from Amazon’s Echo device and soon slept. Vampire cooks, AI, and other distractions haunt my forgotten dreams.
Thanks for reading!
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 