From singing to sickness to a Super Bowl to striplings, the week was memorable.

The singing comes this Saturday at the Beach Club pot luck dinner with the “Adorables” making their annual appearance. This year the theme is a camping trip to Mount Rainier. Unfortunately, I have been unable to attend one of their practices to provide my professional performing-arts helpful hints to enhance the event. However, BJ assures me that the performance will be unlike anything else you may have seen!

The “crud” sickness came back into my life with a vengeance this past week. It brought a painful cough and required a trip to the doctor for something more powerful than Aleve. I sense I have companions in this winter journey fraught with fitful sleep, reduced energy and violent coughing attacks. Frankly, I am fearful that many of you may have also experienced these maladies this year even though I am optimistic I have all of your pain concentrated in me. It sure feels that way!

Super Bowl LI is over, and I am disappointed. Of course, neither the Seahawks nor the Chiefs were playing, which is reason enough to be depressed, but then the Patriots had to do it again. And the way they did it. However, another big reason for disappointment is the true lack of enthusiasm for having a party. Hey, it wouldn’t take much to gather a crowd just to cheer against the Patriots, right? Maybe we expended all our energy cheering for or against the Donald, or maybe we are just too sick with the crud? OK, maybe next year.

Last week’s column noted that Pang, the East Jefferson Rotary Club foreign exchange student, was moving in with BJ and me for the second semester of her year at Chimacum High. In spite of my living with the “crud,” she and her stripling friends have raised the energy level in our home. She invited the foreign exchange students in Port Townsend, who are from France and Brazil, to spend Saturday night with her at our home. They cooked dinner and included me, since BJ had gone out for dinner at some friends’ home. (I chose to not share the crud with friends.) The students were delightful conversationalists and then they watched three movies, practiced some hip-hop dance moves and had breakfast at 1 a.m. I did mention the change in the energy level, didn’t I?

In last week’s column I provided a paraphrase of a Zen observation. Jim Gormly has noted that former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Vernon Law is famous for another version leading to the same conclusion. “Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.” It might be little sexist with the reference to a female teacher, but hey, Vernon grew up in the 1940s and was a Major League pitcher in the 1950s. You know, that is when America was great!

Love a curmudgeon and have a Happy Valentine’s Day!

(Contact Port Ludlow resident Ned Luce at nedluce@sbcglobal.net.)