Friday All Saints Day

I rose early as I could not sleep and would not roll over again and again. I found my slippers and my robe; the house was an orchid night-friendly 66F (19C) and not uncomfortable with a robe. Soon, liberal coffee was made, and the taste of Justice, Compassion, and Community flavored my blog and the revisions of my sermon for Sunday.

Writing the blog was harder today as I had much on my mind, including getting to Eric “Elric” Anderson’s memorial in Michigan. Flights have been arranged, and a recovery day from travel for this trip is now part of the plan. I also re-joined Costco (I let my membership go during the pandemic) and used their travel services to reduce the cost of a rental car (thanks, Deborah, for that idea). I used Expedia for flights and hotels, with one hotel being almost paid for by my accumulated points and status. As we started into the holidays, the flight was about $400 each way for a cheap seat. There are cheaper discount airlines, but I took Delta instead and a direct flight. I will fly to Detroit this time as the extra $100 bucks and three hours to fly to Lansing connecting from Detroit (DTW) or Chicago (ORD) makes little sense to me in the winter. I will either make it to Detroit/PDX or not (the name for Portland International Airport is sensibly the call letter: PDX). I have also planned a day for a missed flight (or a recovery day if I make it). I will leave around midnight from PDX on 13 Nov 2024, get a car in Detroit the following day, and enjoy the drive to East Lansing. I return on 20 Nov 2024 from DTW, arriving late in PDX (the name for Portland International Airport).

While taking a short thinking break on the blog, I edited and updated the sermon text. When I write, I am not all steam-of-consciousness; I stop and start as I try to assemble events out of the mish-mash that is my memory of the previous day (for example, it has taken me an hour to remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, ham).  While I make a living in computers, my mind is not the usual perfect recall I envy of my fellow technologists, but instead a creative mass of lost connections that suddenly reconnect in strange ways. It makes me innovative but forgetful and easily distracted into rabbit holes. But I often find something in those darn rabbit holes.

Yesterday, I bought a spiral-cut ham (I prefer not to slice hams) and had a few slices for breakfast. While trying to avoid overprocessed food, I was missing ham. This one cost extra, too, as it is smoked. It is perfect for the Jamabalya, and I hope to make it this weekend using the New Orleans School of Cooking recipe. I had the ham with a banana (I am still low on potassium).

I did more writing and revising. Getting something polished takes hours of work, and I tried not to add but to improve clarity. It is so easy to bloat the text now that I am editing. I did drop some words.

Lunch will likely require some cooking, and I decided it would be a good day to let someone else cook. I head to the Mexican place across from The 649, Tapatio: Mexican Restaurant, and my waiter remembers me. It has been a while, and I explain that nothing they have will not put weight on me—except I order the soup. No beer, just iced tea and soup.

I talked to the waiter; his son had married into a Jewish family and was living in Israel and had to run from the war. They are safe now and living in California, and my waiter is a proud grandpa who can now drive and see his kids and grandkids. All safe and only ten hours away by car. A happy ending!

Next, after paying and ignoring the treat supplied with the check, I head to The 649 and order a single beer and pay. Crystal was happy to see me, as she, too, was missing me. I have a beer, chat with her about my trips to Chicago and NOLA, and show her the video of me cooking. I drink the beer slowly, order my rental car, and organize my trip to Michigan more. I called Linda, my sister, and told her of the revised dates and possible dinner plans with her and her family on Thursday.

I return home in Air Volvo, and Corwin soon drops by. I help him with insurance, and we get him set up with Allstate and vastly cheaper coverage for his truck. He is now paying 50% of his previous cost and has started a relationship with a local office for insurance; having humans interested in you as a customer to talk to is so much better when it comes to insurance.

I cook spatchcocked chicken with lemon and seasoning from Trader Joe’s, which you just bake for about an hour. I make mashed potatoes with the skins on, and wilt steamed green beans (frozen and from Trader Joe’s) in butter, fresh garlic, salt, and almond slices in a frying pan. It is good, and there are leftovers. I split the leftovers with Corwin. Corwin did the dishes and then headed out. He walked home, hoping soon to have insurance.

I read until tired, a few hours actually, and got through three more stories in the Vampire Cookbook. Apparently, they serve a rare (bloody) steak at the Vampire Café (just flipped over a few times on a hot iron skillet), not something I would usually go for. The Friday laundry is done but has not been put away yet.

I turn on the Amazon sleeping music channel to drown out the gutter noise and the funny creaking the house has started to make this winter. With one noise, repeating every hour or so loud enough to wake me. The music helps, and I sleep until 5, when I receive a text, fall back to sleep, and then have an anxiety-based dream since I did not wake up enough to read it. Poo. Also, the sermon does not reduce my anxiety. I wake from the dream with my heart rate a bit higher, but I am fine.

Thanks for reading.