Monday Morning Ramblings

Well the butt is feeling a lot better after my slide down the stairs on Friday. Every now and then I'll move a certain way and it will give me a painful reminder. But it's all feeling pretty good.

I haven't been a quick healer on the chemo, at least the Nexavar. On the current Torisel, the rate of healing seems to be back to normal. Most everything seems to be back to normal.

Some things are beyond normal. My beard, somehow, has become thick and dark. Before Torisel my facial hair was at best light and kind of whispy. I want to grow a big Grizzly Adams beard for the first time in my life. But Barb's facial expression alone at the sound of that idea tells me I won't be trying it anytime soon.

Maybe a big handlebar mustache? Or maybe some big pork chop sideburns?

Well, maybe not. I just can't see standing there in front of the mirror in the morning and saying to myself "What kind of design should I shave out of my face?"

I have a dentist appointment later today. The dentist is a place I hate to go to, but love to leave. There's just not much fun in holding your mouth open for half-an-hour while your teeth and gums are picked through with sharp metal intruments. But I love leaving with that clean, clean, clean feeling. That's the great reward.

Before the dentist I hope to get out in the yard with the leaf blower and take care of the first yard cleaning of the Fall season. All of the yard waste gets packed into these paper recycling bags supplied by the borough. The bags are big. They go up to about my shoulder pits. By the time the leaves all drop we'll have gone through about 25 of these bags filled and at curbside for pick-up.

There's only one other yard on the block that has any kind of tree. We have three huge shade trees and a tall evergreen that provide the entire yard with shade, like a little forest. The trees are a blessing in my opinion. But they're not without their downsides of course: it's impossible to grow grass; and the mess to clean-up every Fall is a BIG mess.

But thanks to Alyssa and Charlie this will be the first Fall clean-up aided by a leaf blower. I tried it out in the Spring. It's a blast.

Yesterday I saw a blind man walking down the street. I hadn't seen him in the neighborhood before. With the aid of his walking stick he tapped out a path along the buildings. I could tell he was rather new with the walking stick, and had probably recently gone blind.

He was unshaven, dressed rather ragged, as I watched him work his way down the block. He finally tapped a garbage can and stopped, opening a plastic bag he was carrying. He pulled out a couple cans and put them in his plastic bag.

No matter what you're going through. It may seem like the end of the world. You may ask, "Why me?" But always remember, there's always someone worse off than you. You have to sink your heart into all you have, not all that you don't have.

I've got to eat some breakfast and hit the Bowflex. Have a great manic Monday!