Let’s call this one the voyage on a calm turbulent sea.

Originally written 6/31/21

It certainly is a voyage. For those who have been following along, I suppose I could have titled this “the calms in the concentric eyes of an infinite hurricane.” Either way, the point is that while most of the voyage has been relatively calm and the destination, while known, is taking a seemingly casual pace with a swale and a storm cropping up every now and again.

Joyce’s sessions had been going well. We have to be thankful for that. The staff at the Coborn Cancer Center could not be more helpful or encouraging. Her latest PET scan (6/22/21) showed us that her cancer has progressed (not a good thing). The comparison to last time indicates that the treatment she is currently on is not being effective like it was. She is going to be on a 3 week treatment break while they get her ready for her next best option. 

Along the way, the turbulence, reminds us that Joyce’s journey will never be the “quiet ride into the sunset” that we wish it would be.  In the middle of this month I decided it was best to call for an ambulance to take Joyce to the ER in Little Falls and subsequently to the ICU in St.Cloud. As it turned out an issue 40 years in the making decided to pay a visit to her system. An ulcer that had been treated and thought to be taken care of turned out not to be an innocent bystander in the process. Because of the blood clot that she had after the rod was implanted in her leg she had been prescribed Coumadin to keep her blood clotting under control. That, combined with the Excedrine that Joyce takes (had taken) to help ease her migraines, caused her stomach lining to inflame and bleed. 

The bottom line is that we weathered that storm, found the “calm sea” of Peaceful Pines, and continue on our journey.

Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon 2 hours at a time.

 A strange heading, I know, but it is how far we have traveled so far for appointments just since January 1st of this year. Living one day at a time and taking in the goodness of the moment sometimes causes one to lose an overall perspective of what the reality of a given situation is. So far we have logged in over 4,500 miles for medical reasons. In the moment it does not seem like a big deal but the other day it dawned on me that a cross country trip, only driving 2 hours at a time would leave a whole heck of a lot of time to experience each stopover in more detail.

Be that as it may, Joyce is doing really well under the circumstances. We have both been vaccinated. We have been able to open up Peaceful Pines to more visitors. We have been able to eat at restaurants (of course with hardly any other diners) and we have been able to hug our family without as much concern for Joyce’s weakened immune system. Her important numbers are improving (white blood count, red blood count, hemoglobin, BCA) and her pain levels have subsided as well. She is out and about in the garden (she tells me what to plant and where to plant it). And we share the watering tasks as well (she tells me what to water and when to stop watering).

We are looking forward to seeing what the next month holds in store for us, one day at a time, one 2 hour trip at a time.

Half A Century, eh

                                                     Perspective, Perspective, Perspective

I suppose when a person is studying as a sophomore in high school, a century (100 years!), may seem like a VERY large range of time. Of course, the student really only has a relatively short span of reference. And then there is us..........

March 7th Joyce and I had the opportunity to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. Of course we have a better perspective looking back. And, looking back, has gifted me with many memories of a wonderfully lived married life.

Adventures in Europe (including the birth of our son, Cole), adventures in higher education (as in Gary learning how to study), adventures in camping (being visited by a bear in the middle of the night in the Boundary Waters), adventures in traveling the United States, adventures in the life of retirement, adventures in establishing a “wilderness” homestead from literally the ground up, and adventures in major health issues all add up to a married life well lived.

I always look at the list of gifts one is supposed to give on any given anniversary. I have stayed pretty much true to the traditional lists out there. And, of course, this year was supposed  to be gold. Truthfully, our relationship IS “the gold standard” in my humble opinion. So, already having that as a gift already given, I looked at alternatives. Spending a “special” night out struck me as something that would be a fun alternative to gold.

searching the “internets, we came up with the idea of heading to the Twin Cities for a nice hotel stay and a Guthrie production. We lucked out with both the accommodations and the production.

If you have not heard of the Moxie in Minneapolis (on Chicago Avenue) I highly recommend it. It is affordable, clean and very aesthetically appealing. It also has on site parking. Oh, and it was within two blocks from the Guthrie.

                                       The production of the Guthrie was very entertaining.

I don’t quite remember Shakespeare being humorous or lively while studying him in high school and college. So, while reading the brochure (it listed (2) 1+ hour acts) I was a bit skeptical.

                                                                   Twelfth Night

At the end, I wondered how the time had passed so quickly. They had a great cast, a great set and great costuming.

So, we have closed the book on the first 50 years of our life together. We are looking to what adventures are in store for, dare I say, the next 50 years :-)

                              And of course our traditional anniversary DQ will lead the way.

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