Years ago, I owned a variety of Volkswagen Beetles. With the help of John Muir’s revolutionary book, How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive, I rebuilt and maintained several of the anemic air-cooled engines. I also learned to embrace the author’s most important advice: preventive maintenance. As children came along, I settled down with a career … More Anemia
What I’ve been reading: The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson Take perfect pacing, add quirky characters, a tablespoon of revenge, and a pinch of profanity, then feast on this top-notch police procedural. Afghanistan by Stephen Tanner All the king’s horses and all the king’s men cannot put Afghanistan together again. Its geography defies conquest and … More Remission
On Valentine’s Day, my wife and I adopted a neutered adult male cat. I named him Spanky. He’s a brawny Bengal looking tabby. He weighs 16 pounds and is oblivious to his size, believing he is a lap cat when, in reality, he is a two lap cat. We estimate his age at three to … More Balance
My wife and I spent Valentine’s weekend in Walla Walla, WA. There, we visited with our niece and nephew who attend Whitman College. Intermittent spring showers rinsed our car on the drives to and fro along I-84. South of the highway, high desert stretched flat and empty for as far as we could see. On … More Back to School
The cancer continues to sleep. My oncologist, Dr. M., ordered blood labs of CBC, CMP, SFLCA, and SPEP. Nothing stood out, just a bunch of numbers. The myeloma is stable 17 months post transplant. I am not on any maintenance therapy. I take a multi-vitamin, 1000 mg of calcium, and a low dose aspirin each … More The Indian Clerk
First, some book reviews of 25 words or less: Because They Wanted To by Mary Gaitskill Raw, kinky stories, populated by conflicted heroines engaged in short term urban relationships. Men are welcome; I think. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri These stories are comfortable as old jeans, but there are holes in the pockets through which … More Survival Stories
In a small town, the ripples of surprise caused by a cancer diagnosis don’t stop with family and friends. They spread outward through the secondary connections in the community: the merchants, the clubs, and the schools that tie us together socially. The pool in which they reverberate may be small but before the surface smoothes, … More Cancer in a Small Town
Four nights ago, winds buffeted the house. Chimes, hanging from the eaves, rang like instruments in a Balinese Gamelan and disturbed my sleep. At first light I ventured outside. There, I retrieved our empty garbage can, which the wind had blown westward like a piece of tumbleweed. Then I proceeded to feed the quail and juncos that inhabit the thickets … More The Winter of My Contentment
A blanket of overcast sky lies across the state of Oregon from November to March. Intermittently, the colorless clouds darken and rinse the northwest with showers. I continue with my six-mile walks but, in such a climate, it helps to also have sedentary activities. I love to read. In fact I’m an inveterate reader; I … More Mystery
Recently, I met with my oncologist, Dr. M. His practice is located in Portland, OR. Each Thursday, however, he travels 60 miles up the Columbia River Gorge to Hood River. Here, he spends the day attending to cancer patients in our small community. He commented that my disease continues to be in “complete remission.” His … More Unremarkable
Good Blood, Bad Blood 