Inspiration

Sitting in a warm living room on a cold fall day watching a football game, my inner self asked the question, “is it time to write another blog?”

I had to think about that for a while. If I wanted to, about what would I write. What has happened that would warrant the time to put into words that which I feel? In the past it has been about a person, a pet, a season, a place, a cooking experience or some other topic that comes to mind.

But this time, crickets. All I heard from the the idea side of my brain was silence. I would not call it a writer’s block. I feel a writer’s block happens when someone starts a project but is kind of stuck in the middle. No, this felt like more of a writer’s void. 

Of course there have been things going on; Marriages, deaths, graduations, holidays, camping, and celebrations. But, nothing seemed to find its way into the queue for further consideration. 

So, I guess until something “dramatic” comes along, I will have to sit in this warm living room on a cold fall day watching football. 

Just a quick note / observation

It occurred to me, when Joyce and I were playing our daily scrabble game, that we currently have our house set up as a stereotypical “rest home” for the older folks.  

We have a scrabble game going on - check

There is puzzle in the process of being pieced to together on the dining room table - check

A craft room - check

A reading room in the rustic room - check

A television viewing area - check

Trails to walk the outside - check

kayaks and canoes for the lake - check

Rocking chairs for the back patio - check

Birdwatching in the back yard - check

Flower gardens - check

A workshop in the basement - check

A computer room for those who are inclined in that direction - check

So, I guess we are all set for whenever “old people” show up and need to be entertained. 

And, of course, we will be in bed before midnight on New Year’s Eve. 

So, if you know of any old people who would like to take advantage of the environment, let us know.

We hope everyone can look forward to a very positive and peaceful 2018.

Funny How Things Work Out

In a perfect world everyone lives the perfect life. Reality suggests otherwise. 

A child wants to be loved, to have friends, and play without fear. 

A teenager wants to be accepted, to be independent, and perhaps sleep in without needing to think about weekend chores. 

A young adult looks to the future, finds a group of like minded friends, develops a more meaningful sense of self, and expresses her/his passion for their developing belief system.

At middle age, family, health, career and the future take up much of the consciousness of daily life.

And then there are the retirement years. Adults reflect on the past, try to maintain an active lifestyle, and perhaps work on checking things off their bucket list.

So, what is on your bucket list? Have you made a bucket list?

I know there are some things that have been on mine that I have been able to check off.

Continuing a wonderful relationship with my best friend         check

Retiring relatively early                         check

Living in a peaceful environment                 check

Being relatively debt free                 check

Going back to my youth and building a model train system in progress

I am not sure if Joyce has a written down bucket list. What I do know is that if she did she would have had a brand new shiny blue automobile on it. On the occasions that she and I have gone through the process of purchasing transportation, we have had to look first at the economics of the decision. And when one bases decisions on economics, not everything on the "want" list gets to be included. 

Well, Joyce finally got to mark her list, which had its origins when she was 5 or 6. The story goes that she would take the magazines that her family got and look for the cars that were in the middle fold out pages. She would cut them out and drive them around the house. I am guessing that even the paper cars showed signs of her lead foot, but that is a story for a different time. Anyway, her favorite color was royal blue. And Wednesday :

                                                  Own a new vehicle that is royal blue

                                                                     check

I know that there are many things she has crossed off in her mind in the past. I know that there will be many things in the future as well. But, when it brought a few tears of joy, I know this one was special.

And as one of my fellow actors said,

 "That's a wrap."

This year I found myself participating in another play, "Lafferty's Wake." I read in our county paper that there was going to be a casting call. And after talking it over with Joyce, we decided that this fall would be open if I actually got a part. Last year, for some reason ;-) was not a good year for me going out for long stretches at a time. But now, since that chapter was finished, we thought getting me out of her now growing hair for a while might be an okay change of pace. We  will come back to that in a few paragraphs.

The audition went well, in my humble opinion. It was humorous filling out the application. There was a part that asked if I could sing. Well, anyone who knows me knows my answer was a resounding NO!!!!!. Literally, that is how I put it on there. There was a part that asked if I could dance. Again, NO!!!!! Was my answer. As some would say, as a dancer I am a singer and as a singer I am a dancer. I can't understand why people aren't able to equate singing in tune as singing louder. Honestly, that is what I do.

Of course, being an old bald guy helps get parts written for old bald guys. So I had that going for me. And there was a part that fit those two criteria. To shorten this part of the blog, I did get offered a part as a bartender. And without reading most ( let's put that as hardly any ) of the script, I said I would take the part. After all, how much would a barkeeper be able to say in a two hour play? As it turns out, quite a bit.

Rory Finn turns out to be the Master of Ceremonies at his good friend's wake. So, for two hours of the show, I was there for all but 3 minutes. I guess I should have looked at the script a bit better. Oh, did I mention that Rory had a couple of solo singing parts? Which turned out to be kind of hilarious during our practices. I have been on stage enough to know that once you have adopted the character as your own, it is full throttle ahead. So when it came to the singing parts that is what I did. They kept asking me to sing in tune, so of course I just sang louder and louder and louder. I kept reminding the other cast members of how I had "punctuated" my application.

The play was a dinner theatre production and we were suppose to shatter the "fourth wall." In most plays, the audience is only presented with actors addressing three walls. The fourth wall is the wall that faces the audience. The audience is the fourth wall. And when that wall gets "broken" the audience is either talked to directly or becomes part of the production. In this play, they became part of the production. Did I mention this was a comedy? Needless to say, the unsuspecting audience was included in many of the lighter moments. We only had one person who did not appreciate being brought up on stage to participate. I suppose that is not too bad for the 40 or 50 people we selected over the course of the six night run.

In the end it was a fun project. It was well received. I didn't forget too many lines. I sang as loudly as I needed. And in the end, Joyce discovered that me being away that many times during the night was not as well received by The Dude as she might have thought. I guess she had to spend most of those evenings sitting beside him. And now that Joyce is well, sitting for an evening is not something that comes easily.

here is a link to a mannequin challenge that is all the rage I guess:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_iJTYTNpsrs&time_continue=27

Rest in Peace, Jacob

My heart aches today. I am crying as I write these words.

Jacob Wetterling, a former student in the teaching team where he was a student the day he was kidnapped, was finally brought home. He is not alive in body, nor has he been since the day he was kidnapped, but he is alive in spirit, and has been since that same day.

It has been a very long and arduous journey for the Wetterling family and for those who were closely involved. I had always hoped the filming we had done as a school project would be helpful in bringing Jacob home. Alas, it was not to be.

I am glad many of us now know. I have always been angry that Jacob was a victim of a predator. It is hard to work through the stages of grief when in the final stage one just does not know the final fate.

Every gathering, every large group activity always had me scanning faces to see if there was a chance that he might be one of them. There was always the chance. There was always the hope.

Rest in Peace, Jacob

Ta Da, end of treatments day!

So, what do we know after all is said and done? We know that Joyce is free from her cancer. We know that what she had to go through, I would not wish on anyone. We know that because of the advancement of medicine, she has a 97% chance of her cancer not returning. More than that, we know that we have the best support system we could ever hope to have. Starting with our immediate family, who were there at a moment's notice in case we needed anything; Our friends, who prayed, cooked, visited and offered words of encouragement throughout the process and of course, the medical staff, who held our hands throughout the process. 

We can not say enough good things about The Coborn Cancer Center and the staff. I can not imagine a job too much more difficult than meeting complete strangers to deliver the news that cancer is now a part of their lives. I can not imagine a more difficult job trying to keep the hopes and spirits of affected patients positive. I can only imagine the positive reward for their work when they see a patient "survive" against odds that were stacked against them. 

The facility itself presents a hopeful environment in which patients feel secure in the hope for the future. It has all the incremental elements necessary to answer the questions of the patients as soon as they are ready to ask them. From a pleasant architectural setting to social work outreach to the personal enhancement section where patients are given free wigs, scarves and hats. Every question had an answer that inspired hope for the future.

Our friends who prayed for us and kept us in their thoughts should know that in the darker hours, yours was the light that kept our heads high and looking ever forward. Your phone calls, your food, your gifts, your patience with Gary when he would not let you visit, and your hugs when he did. Thank all of you for being there for us.

Cole, Sharon, Kylara, Garrison, brothers and sisters have been amazing through all of this. At the drop of a hat, if needed, whatever needed to be provided was there for us. Encouragement, food, housekeeping, hair (yes, hair) and dog sitting services were there for the asking.

To all of you, thank you.

I would like to say that the time has passed by quickly, but I can not. Since all of this started in mid October time seemed to drag along. I suppose it being winter, Joyce pretty much confined to quarters and my historical dislike for the winter months made it feel that way. The brightest spot through all of this has been Joyce's eternally optimistic outlook at the outcome. Never once has she altered her opinion that she was going to get through this as a winner. Even on her most debilitated day following her chemo treatment, her mood was always looking ever positively forward. I believe she was her own best healer. I suppose that is one of the reasons I agreed to let her marry me. ;-)

For now, we are moving ahead with the plans that we had before all of this started. We are going to be camping more, golfing more, canoeing more, fishing more, bicycling more and we can do that with a fresher appreciation of life. So, there you are. This side trip on our life journey is at an end and we are back on track to many many more days regaling in life here at Peaceful Pines. By the way, I have officially opened the gates to visitors if you would like to drop by and say hi.

One of these things is not like the other....

camper

We decided that this year we would camp in a bit easier manner when we head north for our annual up north fall color foray. Every now and again, I look at the offerings of the online auctions that are taking place in Minnesota. I pay closer attention to the ones that are nearer to us. I happened to be looking at the K-bid auction site and saw one that was listed in Little Falls. There it was. It looked nice. It was close. AND, it was a "no reserve" auction. It was close enough that we actually went to look it over, so that we would be sure that it would suit our needs, and that it was in relatively good condition. It did and it was. So, between now and our trip up north, there will be a few things to work on, but it should be a little bit easier on our aging bones compared to the cots we have been using the last couple of years. It also has a few appliances that will make it more comfortable as well. The heater, the fridge and the water pump all work. Heck, even The Dude will get his own bed out of the deal.

Kidney Stone

7 and counting. Gary is in the process of passing another kidney stone as of this writing. It looks like it is going to be a go in and get it taken out kind of stone. It has been traveling since the beginning of August but has decided to park for a while. I had an MRI the other day and it showed a 4mm stone thumbing its metaphorical nose at us. So, if you see me walking funny for a while, that will be the reason.

Cancer

The other day we got the news that, from the tests that Joyce had done after she discovered a lump, that she had indeed stumbled upon a bit of Cancer. Of course that is not the news one wants to receive, but with Joyce's family history it was not totally unexpected. The course of action for her is first a lumpectomy followed by targeted radiation. The surgery was on September 17th, her recovery from that will last until October 7. The radiation is an every day excursion into St.Cloud. We have decided to include The Dude in our daily trips so he does not feel like he is getting the short end of the attention deal. He has been adjusting nicely since his return from Iowa and we want that to continue.

So, one of these things is not like the other can, you guess which one?