Bloomsday???

 My west coast brother lives near Spokane, and he has informed me that today, in Spokane, is "Bloomsday."  He described it as "a springtime ritual in Spokane where 50,000+ people risk heat stroke while chasing a dozen or so Kenyans around a 7.5 mile course, snarling downtown traffic for several hours." He also informed me that he has avoided participating for the last 50 years.  Since this is the first year that he has ever mentioned this event to me I thought I might look for a few more details.

The Lilac Bloomsday Association sponsors a major 12K (7.456 miles)  road race held in Spokane on the first Sunday in May.  Today's was the 50th running of the race. The purpose of the race is to promote fitness, sports and community well being and to celebrate the enduring spirit of the "Lilac City." I did not know that Spokane is the "Lilac City" but I have seen some beautiful parks when visiting there. The event, which attracts thousands of participants every year, winds through some very picturesque and scenic areas of the city. 

On the other hand today was also "Lemonade Day" and "Garden Meditation Day."  My brother decided, wisely I think, that these were a better use of his time.

watching on TV

 It's a really good thing that I was not at the Kentucky Derby this year.  Of course I never have been to the Kentucky Derby so this year was no different.  I watched it on TV as usual.  It's fun to watch on TV but I would like to wear one of those amazing hats.

The reason it's good that I wasn't there is becaise this way I didn't loose any money.  If I had been there I would have bet some money on Great White, the physically largest horse in the race.  I liked his looks. Sadly all my dreams for Great White were shattered while they were still getting the horses into their gates.  As they were trying to get him in, Great White reared up, threw his jockey, fell over on his back and almost rolled over on his jockey.  Great White was a non-starter, out of the race before it began.  They wouldn't let him run after that fall because there wasn't time for a vet to check him out thoroughly to be sure he hadn't injured himself.  I presume they checked out the jockey also but the commentators didn't say anything about.

It was a very exciting race though.  Golden Tempo came all the way from the back of the pack to win the race.  It was amazing to watch. Golden Tempo was trained by Cherie Devaux, the first woman trainer to win the Kentucky Derby.  The jockey who rode him, Jose Ortiz, had his first Derby win in 11 trys.  Hooray for all concerned.  It was a great day at the races.

a delicious dessert...

 My west coast brother told me that today is, as well as being "May Day" which we all know about, "Bread Pudding Recipe Exchange Day."  Evidently my west coast sister-in-law makes her bread pudding from day-old Cinnabons.  That does sound delicious to me, but I will not be asking her for her recipe.

My interest in bread pudding is all about the eating, not the making.  This will come as no surprise to those of you who know that my wonder spouse does most of the cooking in the family.  He does make fantastic fudge but has never yet made bread pudding, at least since we've been married.

As a matter of fact, I had never even heard of bread pudding until I accompanied my then boss to a Century 21 Realtor's Convention in Las Vegas.  This was about 40 years ago.  We stayed at the Golden Nugget Casino Hotel - a beautiful fun glitzy place on the old downtown strip.  My boss not only introduced me to the yummy bread pudding which was on the buffet every evening but also taught me to play Black Jack, a game I have loved ever since.  Happily I live some distance from Las Vegas which has probably saved me quite a lot of money.

In case you're wondering, yes we actually did attend several motivational and educational sessions while we were there, but always made time for bread pudding and Black Jack.

Book review...

Have you ever been so caught up in a book that you can't put it down? Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I am an avid reader and that I enjoy discovering a new series of books about the same characters.  This started with the "Little House" series and it is still my great delight to discover a new series that I really enjoy.

Currently I'm reading the second novel in "A Scottish Isle Mystery" series by Lucy Connelly.  I will readily admit that I picked up the fifth book of the series, on a display shelf in our local library, because I was attracted by the author's name.  When I discovered it was one in a series I requested the first four and am happily reading my way through them. 

Don't let me mislead you.  If you like very sophisticated angst filled novels about tortured souls you might not find these books to your taste.  But, if you, like me, enjoy a good murder mystery in a book filled with interesting likeable characters set in a small community in Scotland (one of my favorite countries) then I think you will enjoy this series. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my book.

Woops...and yummy...

 Last night I forgot to blog.  This is rare for me.  Except when I'm on vacation I write my blog every night.  

In my defense, last night I had a pain in my hip, my real one not my bionic one, took a Tylenol PM, and fell asleep on the job.  But I'm back at it tonight having watched my wonder spouse work for a couple of hours to get my trusty computer connected to the internet with a wired LAN instead of Ethernet.  We're not there yet but he enccouraged me to write this blog and get off my computer so he can get back to work on the improvements.

So here is tonight's blog.

Today I met three of my friends (friends I have know since high school, which is a very long time) for lunch.  We tried a new Indian Restaurant (new to us anyway) called BB's on North Anthony.  It was a delicious experience.  I had a mild chicken currie dish made with a cashew sauce, also a milkshake like drink made from dates and coconut milk, quite tasty.  I highly recommend this place.  

Now I'm signing off so my EE wonder spouse can get back to his improvements.

a traveler's tale....

 My wonder spouse and I have just finished another jigsaw puzzle.  We have promised ourselves that this is the last one until we come home from our cruise in May.  

Here's a picture of the puzzle.  While we were working on the puzzle I kept thinking that the scene looked familiar, but I thought that that was probably just wishful thinking.

However, after we finished the puzzle we decided to try to find out what it was a picture of. You would think that they would have that info on the box, and they did sort of, but it wasn't easy to find.  My spouse found out, by going to a website listed on the box in very small print, that this is a view somewhere along the coast of Amalfi (a stretch of coastline along the west side of Italy).  Then I knew, I really have seen this scene or something very much like it.  

In 2023, before I married my wonder spouse, a girlfriend and I took a trip to Rome and Tuscany and one of the optional tours was a boat ride along this very coast.  I'm sorry that I can't find a photo in my archives to prove it, but I really have been there and it really was just this beautiful.  

just ducky...

 There is a Swedish proverb that I learned recently "Shared joy is a double joy, shared sorrow is half a sorrow."  

Today I was able to share a joy and a sorrow and I think both parts of this proverb proved true.

Every Sunday after the 11:00am service at my church we have a coffee hour. It's a time to chat with friends I know well and also to make new friends.  Today's coffee time began when a friend sat down with me and a few other people at our table and shared live pictures from a camera feed to her phone.  What we saw was a mama duck who had made a nest in my friend's flower bed, up close to the side of the house.  As we looked at the camera we saw the duck sitting on her ground nest.  We were told that she was sitting on 15 eggs.  We all watched for a while as we drank our coffee and ate our cookies. The duck was just sitting there, not doing anything very interesting, until suddenly she raised up, just a little, and a newly hatched duckling poked its head out from under the mama. What a joy.  We all cheered.  Truly a shared joy.

Gradually, people left to head home and I realized that one other person and I were the last ones left at our table.  She was a casual friend, someone I know from committee meetings but not really well.  I asked her how she was doing, remembering that she had been having some health problems, though I didn't know the details.  She said "ok" but her voice didn't sound like she was really ok so I said that I knew she hadn't been well during the last couple of years but really didn't know the details.  She told me all about the very rare cancer that she had been diagnosed with and all the tests and teatments she has been going through since 2019.  She talked and talked and I listened.  I think that sharing her sorrow really did help, at least I hope so.  She seemed 'lighter' and happier as we parted.  

So remember that Swedish proverb and make time to share other people's joys (that's easy) and sorrows (harder but you might really be helping someone).  All you risk loosing is a little bit of your time.