Month: November 2017

We just returned from visiting Tucson, AZ for Mark’s 50th high school reunion. The weather couldn’t have been nicer. It was a real “blast from the past” for Mark and he really enjoyed seeing several old friends from his school days. We also got to re-visit his father’s grave and Mark showed me all the places they lived in Tucson and all the schools he went to during his youth. Very nostalgic for him.

On Sunday we left and drove to Phoenix with the rental car and spent one night there. On our way we stopped to see the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, AZ. I wasn’t expecting much, but was incredibly surprised by this outstanding, “best in the world” museum. I highly, highly recommend it to anyone visiting AZ. It is an amazing museum that showcases musical instruments from every corner of the globe, and has audio and visual (heard thru headphones) of each country to accompany seeing the actual instruments. We only had 4 hours to see it all, but wish we could have stayed longer. This museum is a must-see! It was truly inspiring.

I just cooked “Atomic Split Pea Soup”. It’s a recipe I learned from the Native Foods restaurant cookbook. I substituted tempeh for the seitan and added 1/4 t. of smoke flavoring. It smells and tastes delicious. Here’s the recipe.

Yesterday I saw a wonderful new play called “Every Brilliant Thing” by Duncan Macmillan performed by Isaac Lamb at the Portland Center Stage. Isaac did a superb job in this one-man show which also involved plenty of audience participation and improvisation. Although the subject matter, suicide, was dark, the play as a whole incorporated plenty of humor and an uplifting message that “life is worth living” if we choose to focus on every brilliant thing around us. The play has also been produced on HBO and can be streamed.

It was an altogether great afternoon at the theatre!