Center of the Circle » trying new things

Ease of communication

admin — Tue, 03 May 2011 01:49:20 +0000

I’m right now checking out an I-Pad to see if this is easier to type on than a keyboard with only one well-functioning hand. This is certainly an improvement, no doubt. Easier on the eyes than my phone, too.

The wall

admin — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:22:29 +0000

A couple of weeks ago my niece visited from Boston. We drove her through Rocky Mountain National Park and came home through Winter Park.

I think it was in Winter Park where we found this little climbing wall in a children’s outdoor park. The wall is about twice the height of an adult, and children climb it with their parent spotting them.

Well, as an adult, I would never have thought to climb this children’s wall. But my plucky niece, who is 20, clambered right up it.

So then I wondered if I could do it. Let’s see…stage IV cancer, recovering from 12 rounds of chemo – did I have what it takes anymore?

I decided to find out. (You can see a child with his parent in the background, as the wall is meant to be used.)

The beginning

The triumphant conclusion

This breathtaking feat gave me enough confidence to consider another sport: kayaking. More about that later.

In the mountains

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:00:44 +0000

Me on the trail

I have been enjoying my “time off” since chemo ended in early January, although I’m still receiving one drug every other week. It has taken my body quite a while to recover from the heavy-duty chemo; I’m not there yet and am learning to live with the chemo after-effects that still remain. If they improve with time, great. In the meantime, I will keep enjoying my life.

My hair grew in a tad curlier than before. The older I get, the curlier my hair gets. I can’t believe I used to have perfectly straight hair when I was young.

I have PET/CT scan scheduled for early September.

A friend and I drove to Rocky Mountain National Park yesterday to hike and sketch. We packed a lunch and art supplies – various kinds of colored pencils and watercolors – and hit the trail to two lakes. Yes, I made it, and with an 18-pound pack!

Nymph Lake

I will never carry so much again. All I really need for art is a sketchpad, an eraser, and a couple of pencils – no color. I do need my camera, always.

In addition to an excess of art supplies, I toted heavy lunch portions of way too many veggies and grapes, which are full of water. (And I also carried in [but not out] three trays of ice cubes to keep the food cool!) We had enough bottled water and didn’t need more water in the food.

But we made it and had such a wonderful time! One of the lakes had water lilies in it with yellow blooms. Gorgeous place.