It snuck up on me – or is it sneaked? – it’s my night to cook.  This is exactly what I have been writing about – how retirees lose track of the traditional days of the week.  With my working wife’s three-day weekend, I realized this morning that it was already her Tuesday and my day to be the chef.  As she went off to the office, I was starting to marinate some pork chops for dinner tonight.  The recipe is Pan Roasted Brined Pork Chop, a dish that I have already once prepared.  The bone-in chops will sit in an icy mixture of sugar, salt, garlic, peppercorns, and juniper berries for about 10 hours before I bake them in the oven.  As I was digging for the ingredients, I had a flashback to Saturday night’s Bite of Oregon fundraiser that we attended. As the Led Zeppelin cover-band Valhalla finished their set, the Chopped competition began on stage.   Coincidentally, we had just watched the television version before our drive to the Rose Garden to attend this event, so I was picturing myself and this pork shop dish under scrutiny by the judges.  “What a mess,” I’m sure they’d say, “hope it tastes better than it looks!” My wife, of course, will be the final judge, as she returns from another hard day at the office.

I signed up for the Pints to Pasta half-marathon that will take place later this month.  At a Rose Festival fundraiser last year, I bought a certificate that I thought was a Hood to Coast Relay team entry.  It was only a hundred bucks, and I remember thinking how lucky I was to get such a bargain.  That was before I actually got the certificate and realized that it was instead entry into the Hood to Coast Racing Series, five other running races around the Portland area.  Fortunately, it was the buyers remorse that I showed that night to my wife’s co-workers that planted the seed that eventually allowed me to join their Hood to Coast Relay team.  With that race now out of the way, I decided to continue challenging my body by getting some use out of that certificate. The entry fee for Pints to Pasta would have been about $70, so that narrows my loss (for a good cause).  If I’m still motivated, I can then do the “Run Like Hell” and/or “Holiday Half” at my own expense later this year.  I just felt that after the Hood to Coast Relay training miles that I put in, I would be ready for the 13.1 mile distance with a few more weeks of work.

Pints to Pasta sounds like a great motivator.  The race used to start and finish at the Old Spaghetti Factory and this year passes by Full Sail Brewing, so there will be delicious pasta and refreshing beer at the finish line.  The new start is at the Hood River County Fairgrounds with a Columbia River finish line.  My step-daughter and I tried to run this race a few years ago, but the long lines to the shuttle buses failed to get us to the starting line, and we did not get to run.  I hope the changes this year will solve those problems, as the buses will take us back to our parked cars at the start line.  This at least means I won’t miss the start again this year, but will plan to leave a little earlier just in case.

My half-marathon training did not get off to a start this morning.  With all the smoke in the air, I nearly gagged as I walked outside, and elected to get my three miles on the treadmill.  It was not the workout that I wanted, but I did get to read some of my new book, Seeing Red, while I jogged along.  News of the nearby fires,that were apparently started by errant fireworks, was more than disturbing.  According to reporters, breathing the air outside this morning was the equivalent of smoking a pack of cigarettes.  The dogs were not happy campers either, as I drug them reluctantly along to do their business.  I think that natural disasters like the forest fires here and the flooding in Houston should just get together and cancel each other out. Meanwhile, my son who lives in Florida, is concerned about Hurricane Irma, while I’m just worried about getting Chopped!