Decemeber 4, 2023

 

Dear everyone,

This letter looks long - - because there are a lot of photos.  There are many events to memorialize this time.

I’ll start with a sad note. My long time tai chi instructor, Bill Grizzle, died a week ago Monday (or early Tuesday morning). His wife, Nancy had moved him into a hospice hospital in Bolingbrook after a few days of trying to keep him in home hospice - - it really is too much if you don’t have 24 hour care.  He was in the hospice for about 5 days with plenty of pain relief as far as I could tell.  When I visited him a week ago (the day he died) he didn’t open his eyes, and had some difficulty breathing. A lot of people are going to miss him.

Anyway, on the Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving, Vivian, Jasper and I loaded up Cindy’s car, and then we drove to Minneapolis.  Other than some bad traffic around O’Hare before we got onto 90, it was pretty smooth driving (well, you’d need to ask Cindy and Vivian, since they did all the driving).  We got off at exit 163 in Wisconsin to go to the “World’s Largest Culver’s”, and sampled butter burgers and breaded-fried cheese curds for lunch.

We dropped off some bottles of cider and champagne at Owens, and then drove two blocks away to the Aloft hotel.  We rested a bit, and then headed back to Owen’s, whose apartment was already filling up with assorted relatives.  We had a dinner for under 20 people, joined by some of his neighbors.  Nicola and Wes had joined us, having just flown in from Oregon.

Wednesday was the second full day of cooking for Owen as various other family members trickled in, including Lucas.  Andy and Gail could not make it (Covid), but Joey and Maddi represented their family. Dinner was for around 30.

Thursday was the day Owen cooked a turkey, and Joey smoked one. I can’t say which was better - - they were both delicious.  I was directed to carve the turkeys, which I did with my usual brio.  Present this evening were all from the previous night as well as Aunt Betsy, the Minns: Steve, Lucy, Zach, Alex, April, and their two young children, plus lots of champagne. We were also joined by Evelyn. As usual for Thanksgiving, the small roasted potatoes ran out!

Owen had the day off on Friday, because Tamara was cooking a dinner (two kinds of shepherd’s pie), so we went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, which was showing a collection of modern ceramic art.  We also looked at their permanent collection of ceramics, antique furniture, and a variety of paintings from the 1800s to the present.  At Tamara’s we got some more Sassy Spoon swag - - T-shirts and hoodies.

Saturday we drove back to Hinsdale, stopping in the Dells at Moosejaw Pizza, where Jasper and I had surprisingly good Reuben sandwiches.

The past week was uneventful except I re-aggravated my left lower back lifting weights.  I hope I can get it to heal up over the next few days.  On Thursday I stopped in at Christ hospital where I had my ears checked (in anticipation of snorkeling in the Galapagos in six weeks), and visited with my old colleagues.  They showed me some interesting cases, and discussed some other difficult ones, all of which made me feel a lot of relief that I was not longer involved in patient care.

Owen came into Chicago in anticipation of Gary’s retirement party on Sunday, and so he came with Andy, Gail, Cindy and me to Ever, where we had a fine dining experience with a 10 item tasting menu.  Eating like this is fine once every year or so, but there is something to be said for an Italian beef sandwich experience also.  On the other hand, we had wine (or non-alcoholic drinks) paired with each course, as well as four or five specialty breads.

We had a private room

Beeswax plate with tapioca and apple creme(?), blood orange jelly, and pressed beet

Close up of blood orange jelly

Caviar with melon on melon foam

butternut squash soup and hidden cranberry dumpling and pumpkin speeds

counterclockwise: carrot terrine, mascarpone with olive oil, pistachio puree with yuzu

Scallops in coconut curry with nasturtium

pork consomee with smoked pork cheek, artichoke ravioli and artichoke puree

with consomee added

lamb with espresso rub, peaches, persimmon and parsnip sauces

rib eye waygu, smoked grits, cucumber, and fried beef tendon

sticky rice banana pudding with fennel passion fruit

jasmine frozen sphere (used liquid nitrogen)

chocolate and freeze dried raspberries inside

a small piece of Belgian waffle with bourbon flavoring

The kitchen at the end of the day

On Sunday we were at the big bash at Morton’s in the Rosemont area.  There was a big furry convention next door that we drove through, seeing many ‘fursonas’.  Sally Brown was the party organizer, and she did a great job.

Vivian gave me (illegal) access to her HBO Max account, so now I am watching the last two seasons of Barry, Veep, and a SF anime that Joey recommended called Scavenger’s Reign.  I guess the K-drams on Netflix are taking a break.

I have finished my determinism vs free will and what is consciousness anyway jaunt with two books.  The first, Rigor of Angels is about three unlikely bedfellows: Kant, Borges, and Heisenberg, and how they each altered our world view about the nature of reality.  The other, recommended by Jeff, called Galileo’s Error, about panpsychism, which is explained as a third way of regarding consciousness (vs either dualism or materialism).  It is an engaging book, but I did not find the argument wholly convincing - - perhaps if the panpsychics (their claim is that consciousness is an inherent quality of all matter) can come up with some empiric evidence?

I also read one of the most frightening non-fiction books ever, Fire Weather, which starts about by discussing an ‘unprecedented’ forest fire in Fort MacMurray Alberta, home of the world’s largest bitumen mine.  The book ranges from individual interviews to the history of the oil and gas extractive industries, and the science of CO2 and methane forced climate change - - quite a contrast to the specious interviews given by Al Jaber at COP 28.  I highly recommend this book!

I haven’t read any exceptional fiction lately.  We are discussing Remarkably Bright Creatures at book club this weekend; I found it enjoyable, but pedestrian.

Love, H.