Beautiful Port Townsend

I didn't write last night. I had a minor Crohn's episode. In the late morning, I set out for Port Townsend. I stopped for coffee. My body said "yes" to it. I felt fine. I continued on to my friend's, Kurt VanderSluis's house in Port Townsend, where he had prepared a delicious meal of salmon, asparagus, avocado, and salad. And my body said, "yes" to it.

We had a lovely meal together and great conversation about things old and new. We reviewed some of our truly historical interactions -- he was my across-the-street neighbor for a few years when I was in high school, but we knew each other even prior to that, so from 5th grade on, probably. And we found out about what's going in our present lives.

Me and Kurt with the bay in the background.

The beautiful setting for our lunch, at a patio table amidst Kurt & Shiela's garden, backed by roses.

The view from their driveway.

After lunch, I continued into Port Townsend proper to get an Aveda hair product I'd run out of. While I was there, I also picked up a Port Townsend sweatshirt and some Belgian chocolate to share with Dick and Nancy. And I ate some. At the first bite, my body said, "There's probably soy lecithin in this," but my tastebuds said, "It won't matter. It's just a little bit."

Remy and I continued back toward Kingston, stopping at the Chimicum Center Farmstand (again :) ). I got kale for supper, a couple of green(ish) bananas for breakfasts, more of their excellent granola, and chocolate. While I was there -- for some unexplained reason -- I thought I'd get a little ice cream. Looking back, I realize that my body was speaking quite loudly telling me 'no,' but once again I let the taste buds win. Grrr.

I returned to Kingston, feeling pretty good, actually. Nancy prepared another excellent meal: Dick grilled the halibut, and we had a potato salad with olives, and kale salad. And I ate too much. That's the kicker with the Crohn's. Something was already going on. Some combination of things -- or maybe one thing -- that I'd eaten was causing inflammation. I could feel it, but I didn't stop. I had that one more small piece of fish. I had a few more bites of potato salad. Oh, and I had a glass of red wine. Now, I've been able to have a small glass of red wine from time to time without incident over the past month; but I'm fairly certain this was the final nasty contributor to what happened after.

As we left for the movie, "Love and Friendship," (More about the movie in a minute.) I was pretty uncomfortable throughout the movie but kept thinking I could make it back to Dick & Nancy's. I did. Nancy suggested stopping to get some ice cream, since I'd brought Belgian chocolate sauce back from PT, but I said that, no, I needed to get back because I wasn't feeling well. 

Then I put my entire focus into passing through the episode. The inflammation in this case didn't completely close the passage -- I could hear gurgling (it hurt), so I knew that movement was occurring, but it wasn't getting better. I had a hot bath, threw up, etc., and eventually got to bed. I had some extra sleep this morning, and I'm fine, which is more than I can say for many of these episodes. Mostly, I'm a little disgusted with myself for making the choices that brought me to that point. My resolve should last at least a few days before I think I can eat refined sugar again.

Now, the movie: it's based on Jane Austen's final, unfinished novel. It's convoluted, and the main character is fairly unlikable and manipulative. There were several actors I really like, and performances that were entertaining; but overall, I wouldn't recommend it. Fortunately, it was only about 90 minutes long.

Planning to help Dick with the chicken coop project today, and Nancy will probably be cooking a lot because they're having friends over for dinner tonight. I will help as asked and/or able. Talk to you later!