Crossed an icy Mississippi on my walk to the University of Minnesota where I signed paperwork to participate in a Phase 3 prostate cancer clinical trial. Grateful for the lovely walk, grateful for promising treatment options.
As we walked, we had to remind ourselves to stop and take in our surroundings. It was like walking through a vast botanical garden. Clouds were coming in, which will bring a drop in temperatures and maybe some rain for a few days.
At the end of my walk, grade school kids had arrived on a yellow bus to play in the park, a sight we were denied during the height of the pandemic. Teachers were calling to them to collect their brown bag lunches. Later, I expect they were going to a classroom at the nearby Guthrie.
Posted A Soldier in Occupied Japan. My partner’s uncle was stationed in Kyoto, Japan at the end of the Pacific War. The story could’ve been so different.
Walked with our nephew and brother-in-law up to this crater lake, Onami Pond, and walked around one side of the caldera. We then climbed Mount Karakuni, the highest point in the National Park. Reversed course and returned via the opposite side of the caldera. Back at our digs, hot springs worked wonders on our aching… Continue reading Hike to the Top
Diagonal elements can be problematic in LEGO, so I’ve set myself the challenge of building a LEGO Technic model that includes a strong, minimal horizontal structure incorporating diagonal trusses. Today, on my cycle ride, I studied a 140-year-old bridge, looking for inspiration.
I played with LEGO while Dwight worked on the apartment garden. It’s a lot of work to keep all the plants happy. He recently acquired some new epiphytes, Tillandsia (rootless air plants). Here, the automated misting system is providing them with the moisture they need to thrive.
Much of our route today followed St. Cuthbert’s Way, a trail named after the 7th-century monk, bishop, and hermit who is revered as the patron saint of Northumberland. We’re standing in front of a cave where legend says his coffin was temporarily hidden from Danish raiders in the 9th century.
I caught his attention by saying we needed a selfie to prove we were in church this Sunday morning. Of course it was a special occasion: our youngest nephew’s Confirmation at Faith Lutheran in Forest Lake, Minnesota.
First day of my new weekly ELL (English Language Learning) gig with adult learners. Three classes, great attitudes and determination, spiffiest facilities yet.
Dwight worked on his second LEGO gingerbread house, a model of the family’s first North Dakota farmhouse (replaced by a house purchased through the Sears Roebuck mail-order catalog). Meanwhile I trained my LEGO gantry crane to locate and move bricks. Tonight we stream Barbie.
A common thread through much of the year was a clinical trial of a targeted therapy for metastatic prostate cancer. At the outset I gave the trial coordinator a Gantt Chart showing how the study could be interleaved with my travel plans for the year.
And travel, I did. In January we hiked Catalina Island (near Los Angeles) and in February/March we made Palm Springs our home for six weeks. Japan in June was a travel highlight for the year when we explored for three weeks by rail with our brother-in-law and 15-year-old nephew. In September Dwight and I hiked inn-to-inn in the UK with friends.
Ultimately I only had to travel back to Minneapolis once (from Palm Springs) for the study and was able to have a normal life. Currently tumor is almost undetectable.
But it’s the little details of each day I try to celebrate in my Microposts —our hobbies and interests, home life, physical activity, volunteering, and being with friends and family.
You can find all my daily Microposts, going back almost eleven years, here.
