See! It is August already!

I just got back from 8 days in the Pacific Northwest where I had the opportunity to canoe, camp, and participate in family and Farm life with my brother Rob, and his family (Joanne, Mira and Rose).  I also squeezed in visits with long-time friends- from high school, Steve Klamer and from college, David Suwal and his wife Katie.  We had incredibly beautiful weather: sunny and no rain every day.

I was a  bit nervous about the physical challenge of keeping up when it came to hiking and canoeing but I am pleased to say I managed OK being "off the grid" and eating dry and non-refrigerated foods for 4 days.  It'll drive you a little nuts when you are eating mostly nuts and dried fruit for many meals.  But the scenery of North Cascades National Park made you quickly forget creature comforts.  Very few bugs and lovely, well-maintained campsites made the experience even easier to handle.  After each day of canoeing, my sweet nieces set up the one-man tent for me without prompting. Early bedtimes in wonderful climate left time for napping and reading and listening to wildlife.


 Back on the farm, we had the pleasure of a peach tree in its prime with perfect peaches any time we wanted and we wanted a lot.  There is nothing worse than a disappointing peach and nothing better than a perfect peach.  We also picked blueberries and Rob made a couple of blueberry pies which we augmented with just a taste of Häagen Dazs Vanilla Bean ice cream.  All an important part of a good breakfast.  On Saturday, I also accompanied Rob to the Vashon Island Farmers' Market and helped him sell his veggies at their booth.

The Chicken is still cold in GR

The flights were all smooth and easy with on-time curbside pick-ups from my friends.  The only glitch was that I took off my wristwatch and put it in the x-ray bin before subjecting my self to the metal detector and I somehow neglected to grab it on the other side.  Rob sent a farm-raised, organic frozen chicken and an oxtail home with me.  I packed them wrapped in plastic, stuffed into a pair of jeans and buried deep in my sleeping bag.  I was happy to find them still cold and unmolested by TSA.

Still it is good to be back in Grand Rapids in my own bed with my loving homies, cooking in my own kitchen and tending my own tomato plants and goldfish livestock.  Our awesome new neighbors, the Verkaiks, kept the plants watered during a very dry Grand Rapids week and I was rewarded with the first batch of ripe tomatoes.  A little fresh sweetcorn and I am in heaven!

Busting my bubble was a scheduled chemo this morning.  I had had an extra week off and had kind of forgotten about the whole cancer treatment thing.  My blood test still reflected low platelet counts so they ratcheted down my chemo concentration rather than bump me another week.  I've got all kinds of pretty purple bruises to back up that diagnosis.

Dr. Scott can stop working for a moment

It also happened to be Dr. Scott's last day before retirement.  It felt odd to have him be suddenly just gone after 2 and a half years of life-extending treatments.  It is kind of an intimate relationship to jut disappear without a goodbye.  I expressed this to Linda, my chemo Nurse and she said she would inquire whether he could squeeze in a quick farewell.  The man is so busy, he really does need to retire and his bedside manner has always been a bit awkward.  But he did manage to stop in the chemo lounge and introduce me to my new Hematologist, Kenneth Krajewski. He's younger and even taller than the very tall Dr. Scott. Gonna have to work on pronouncing his name.  Dr. Scott was in such a hurry that there was barely time for a satisfying goodbye.  I owe his work for keeping me in the top 6 percent of survivors for my type and stage of cancer. I guess  I have to write a letter.  I had to grab him by the coattails to pull him back for a quick photo (photo credit, Dr. Ken Krajewski).

Brothers reunite

Gonna go pick some more tomatoes and try for a goldfish sighting.  This will be a week for resting up.