Monday Quiet and Classwork

Monday’s are quiet for me. Most of the folks work, and I just sleep until about 7:30, enjoy a quiet and unbusy morning, and have no appointments. I made coffee, liberal, fair trade, and dark and bitter.

A sip of the dark liquid reminds me how far we, liberals, have yet to travel to wake the world to Justice with Compassion. The world, unlike John’s vision in The Apocalypse, needs a kind and waking beverage made without suffering and with all costs paid. I marvel that something like this is available to me and drink deeply; it is like Holy Communion with the wakened world: Equal Exchange Brand coffee, illumination in a cup.

Thus energized, I begin to recall Sunday and write a story of my day. Pain is part of my Monday. I had intense dreams (all forgotten), seemed to have slept strangely, and my left leg is cramped and stiff. It hurts, and ibuprofen is required to reduce the pain and inflammation. I remember fragments of a dream of intense running and hiding and being forced into small spaces. It feels like I actually did those things! I did stand to usher on Sunday at the church and to lecture in my Sunday School. I cannot imagine that was the only cause. How strange!

With the pain and some exhaustion, I keep Monday simple. I write until before 10 and publish the finished blog with plenty of photos. Dondrea sent me one she took while I taught on Sunday. Often on Monday, I take the MAX to Portland and walk, but today it seems like a poor plan, so I decide to try another McMenamins location and get another stamp in my passport book.

Aside: You can buy a passport book and collect stamps from various McMenamins locations, and as you fill a page, you get a prize (a free burger, appetizer, and the like). If you complete the passport, you are granted Cosmic Tripper status and invited to special events. I am still working on my 2006 passport!

I head to the Greenway McMenamins, about 2/3 of the way to Portland in the West Hills. Of course, I showered, dressed, and even applied all the creams to stop skin issues. Skyrizi seems to have slowed and reduced my skin issues, but flaking and itching have returned. I will apply the creams and so on for the next couple of weeks to bring it back under control (they worked before). I spaced shaving and will not shave until Tuesday.

Unshaven, I arrive and soon learn that this location was the third created by McMenamins founders. It is also their first brewpub and the first place in Oregon where beer was brewed (legally) once brewing was legal again. This is where it all started! I find a table with sunlight inside (it is a cool morning) and order a Special Prosecutor burger (thinking we could use one of those) with vegan split pea soup. Both were excellent.

The Special Prosecutor and proper split pea soup mix well with my class notes for John’s Apocalypse. I outline the book’s structure and start with a Methodist argument on some main points. I fill a couple of pages with text to settle my thoughts, knowing that I will only use the notes to keep on track and to read from the text. I would come back to my notes all day and update them. By the time I head to bed, I have enough material to finish the class.

I enjoy my iced tea, food, and writing at Greenway McMenamins. I then returned home in the EV. I had remembered to charge the night before, Air VW the Gray, and I had a nearly 100% charge when returning (part of the effects of going downhill). The pain and stiffness make even driving uncomfortable.

I stopped by Walgreens to get a prescription, but the pharmacy closes for lunch until 2. I got some soap and toothpaste that I needed (plus some chocolate) and will return on Tuesday. I seem to alway hit this break.

The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying, 5E, Trials of Saruman printed book arrived. I had the PDF, and this is an excellent distraction, as are various calls from Deborah. This is a campaign book, not really a sourcebook, for players and DMs to experience serving Saruman before his fall into corruption. It has five quests for players to work for the White Wizard, with a system that has Saruman fall deeper and deeper as players fail, or, on their success, to revise the story and keep Saruman hopeful.

I enjoy the new material; it is like a mini LOTR story. These stories, while not from the books, are approved content. I am not sure I will ever get to play it, but I do enjoy reading it and imagining these other fellowships doing quests in Middle-earth.

I made heated Chicken Tikka from Costco for dinner, but used the Chinese-style dry noodles instead of cooking rice. The noodles dried out the mix, and it was a bit too crunchy. Next time, rice or get some naan.

I bought a season of Doctor Who, the second season, for the new show. I watched that while trying to relax. I read some more about the American Civil War.

I do laundry on Mondays, but it didn’t get done. I was ahead as I had done on Friday. I found my bed, read, and soon slept. Dreams filled the night, all forgotten, but none had me cramped again, and I woke on Tuesday without pain.

Thanks for reading!