Then This

   R in all her late July finery And Skip in his      I have a feeling today isn't really happening, although there are scattered suggestions that it is: S called van owner (previous) and he optimistically said just turn the fridge off and back on, it worked fine last week. Also he said the title has he not because he had a bank loan on it and when he pays that off with our money and they then give him the title he will naturally give it to us. Sounds cute; we'll see, Mr. Zoom Doctor. It is overcast and there were the tiniest droplets on the vehicle windows, very cool comparatively.  It's 11:51 am, so let's be optimistic. There is much effort for R and S to get their nails done and talk of dinner out, so... More if there is. Turns out it was a bit unfair, certainly premature, to said today wasn't happening. Did some stuff that was quite good - graveyard walk with Skip and a fine outing with R to the Tap Room for mussels and caesar salad served by Sam Jeffers a kindl

  10 o'clock at the machine shop It is late, but the chronicle will out.      Frustrations: with van - bolts immovable from floor where 3rd seat was removed, fridge doesn't appear to be working, insurance difficult, and where is the title to the thing. Frustrations with opioids - to wit, I am cut off and withdrawal does exist; tylenol and ibuprofen are my weak friends. But Ramona is here now to make up for the negatives of van life in the driveway. Norby came for the recycling. The sun beamed as it has been. Walked late but not really far - first night-time traverse of the secret bushwhack trail following a short lay down under the Maple with D. Just letting it go. Oh, on a side note, we enrolled myself in a immunotherapy  program from Merck that Medicare refuses to pay for because it is not the standard of care for my thing, but Merck offers it free to some people so the nice girl, Jaycee, at SCCA pharmacy billing set me up and after some paper scanning and emailing we await w

  Jackrabbit? 5 miles walking yesterday; pat, pat, pat.       Somewhat complex handoff of the RoadTrek CS Adventurous LXT (not sure of the LXT part, but throwing it in just in case) today involving Laurie and Andy, leaving the Outback at Walgreens near Harbor Pointee, dog, exchange of fluids, etc. I will play the role of documentarian recording the experience here to the delight of me and maybe the one other person who reads this narrative. For the moment however I recline in the recliner with the coffee waiting for the 2 oxycodones and 2 Tylenol 500's to kick in as a pretty hot sun rises warming the east side of the house and as S and D leave to deposit D at Bark and Biscuit over on Maxwelton Road. Here's hoping the yearling doesn't get heat stroke frolicking and trading diseases with the other pooches. Brought the Adventurous home and spent hours fiddling with its various systems. Got iphone to show up on dashboard display - music, navigation and text message and I guess

Okay, whatever - he's my dog. No apologies. And no he's not missing an eye it's just brown or he's winking. SKU numbers for awning strut  they's whooping it up in Washougal after I sent them the $36.95 for this Wednesday July28th       I'm, I'm, I'm going to keep up better as I now see that any yesterday is a fragile thing by any tomorrow. Yep. Still in recliner at 9:18 but working hard on that Tuesday recall, reading manuals for new rv, and stove top on old rv (not working right). Need to call rv awning people about awning strut I broke and correct spelling of Fossick to Fossek in all previous posts. More later. Later - My goodness, chasing solutions for old van problems so it can be sold fairly. By 1pm stove top and awning leg issues are nearly fixed. Tried Irish Welding Services out on Lone Lake Rd. Nice guy, but not practical for welding. Called outfit in Washougal and almost had the piece ordered but the credit card verifier failed and woman on phon

  knee, bole and dog - the Maple ivy on the back wall of the Clyde theater - thought to use as computer screen background but somehow too creepy the dead end of 6th street where I so often go - turn right get to Maple, turn left get to secret rough trail to 3rd street - controversial Compton property with old building just visible at far end - just reference photo not artistic composition      Hard to recall any detail from this day when I try just the next morning. I know D and I walked to the community of 2 or 3 bulkhead beach homes on the shore just west of Langley, but beyond that there seem to be no memory pegs to swing from nor any pictures which is a key way to trigger memory. There was some trouble with the apparatus of the stoma and with assistance from S that was resolved. The day was fine in the way of the weather - cool overcast followed by warm sunny. There may well have been some mowing, but that may have been Monday. Let's just say we are living in the moment and try

  Based on philosophy of yolo we picked up this little cutie in Bellevue from a Zoom doctor midnight cow Monday July 26th       Dean, Dusty and I went a walking from the Commons to the now famous missing bulkhead at the old Primavera homestead west of Langley. Not sure that was what Dean had in mind as he mentioned several times that he was not a walker due to worn knees but in my obsession with west beach langley and dog joy there I heard him not. He eventually took a load off on the classic staircase at the above mentioned missing bulkhead and spoke of his coming meeting with the equally famous Paul Manner, knee surgeon extraordinaire. Somewhat later S and I got a wild hair and bought another sprinter van with all the fixings. It was looking like you either buy used or wait a year or two for a new van and wait again for it to be converted by the conversion moorlocks somewhere. Later again D and I hit the big Maple and the rough and secret trail between 6th and 3rd. Later still I nail

       Barry and I crossing Freshwater Creek on the way to Warren's farm in times gone back. Between Hopkins and Silk Grass, Belize       Large bowl of savory oats - fried egg, smoked salmon trimmings and spinach,  Received the following email from Hopkins, Belize as to the last weeks of my old friend's life - "Barry had been travelling back and forth Miami to Belize , for a couple years, he while in miami had a pile of medical tests done,,this time when he came to belize he was wheezing, and had to use those inhalers, he said he had envasema from smoking cigarettes, he had a tough time breathing, even with that he had 6 guys working for him gardening off and on ,he seemed to be in good spirits , and had energy..but he had lost his healthy eating habits , eating a heavy meal at 930 or 10 0 clock at night, 10 cups a coffee a day , and this chemical juice stuff, which one or both gave him the runs every day , he stayed up till 2 or 3in the morn ing , got up at 10, 11, noon s

  At the Atelier - I did some weed eating as well but mostly this until time for plumbing capri 1 capri 2        I did not wish to catch the 6:30 ferry, but I was chosen because with me supine in the Outback S could slide to the front of the line at the terminals, and I might, with luck, open the Drain in Ramona's bathtub all while S took a class in the Breast Stroke in Lake Washington at 8:15. I was deposited in the atelier of the Cunniff compound in Columbia City to lay on the murphy bed until such time as C was ready to assist with the plumbing. Coat hangering, plunging, liquid Snaking, boiling watering eventually restored good flow out and S went to Loews, no small act on a Saturday amid Delta, and got a strainer with the smaller holes. Sarah, fully awake now, mentioned to me that she was having hallucinations and I mentioned back that I was experiencing waking dreams and night sweats. We caught each other's eye with an arched brow, but moved on. Sarah briefly rubbed D and

  new trail through the dense growth between 6th and 3rd streets - pioneered by N and I some weeks earlier (D barely visible in the weeds) start of the above in L. Compton's famous lot at the end of 6th street outdoor pleasure room created by the $129.95 Coleman shelter from Costco C, S and S melding with small douglas fir       Sarah, Charlie, S, D and I did the graveyard, forest, the darling Highlands, the village well and catchment forest, the middle school/Community Center and finally the secret back way to Louisa Dr. and home. S made a sumptuous breakfast and there was a quiet time for me while Sarah and Charlie ransacked the thrift stores of Freeland. S and S off to Girls Night at the Dancing Fish, C couching with a kindle and I and the dog off to Maple Tree and new path from Compton controversial property down to 3rd, left, left, right and so home via Laurie's new li house and the quiet public alley little known to many. C and I mowed the enclosure at the backyard.

  D at Fossick's Maple Laying down Thursday July 22nd, 2021 Headed up to the maple and ran into Carl Fossek. Reintroduced myself as the sawmill operator who long ago had shaped the logs for his house in the woods above the golden fields. 30 years ago, so I needed to connect soon since I was using his tree, his road, his land and wanted to continue. Charlie and Sarah came and we ate, and talked and walked, you know. D has a special desire for Sarah as she massages him while he wiggles and writhes in her lap; it goes on for minutes on end then there is a pause of indeterminate length and then another rub rub wiggle wiggle. There is also some face lickage. Later S was torpedoed by a soda stream bottle she was recharging. Initially I thought she needed to get immediate medical care but after a few minutes she got her breath and didn't think her liver was damaged nor did she feel there was internal bleeding, so we all laughed it off and changed the subject.  Soon all five went to re

  N removes sunglasses Wednesday July 21, 2021           N texted as D and I entered the forest east of the cemetery for a walk. D and I made for home to gear up for a west Langley beach walk, with fixin's including zlites, coffee, banana bread, etc. Met N at The Commons and proceeded down by Senn's Doghouse project and thence up to the old, now gone, Primavera bulkhead. Overcast. Found a slight tuck among the drift logs poured and mixed our drinks as discussion of Margaret Atwood's science fiction among other subjects came up. N received news that his cousin was in flight from fishing boat in Alaska panhandle to Seattle due to his arm getting caught between two heavy vessels. Home and soon Dean and Mary arrived for a backyard soiree in which Dean tested zlite under several Aussie yearlings. Lounge pants arrived in rather a hospital green that I had not really considered the desirability of.

  July 20, 5:13 pm - generic shot of Fossek field       Except for Oncologist Harris zooming in to make a plan for my future, it was a slow day. Maybe there was something about infection in one of the small holes made for the robo surgery but it was not exhausting nor dramatic. O. Harris suggested we try immunotherapy which sounded good, so S and I nodded our heads in the zoom and the wheels began to turn. Late into the evening I kept thinking my light green lounge pants would arrive but they didn't because tracking said Wednesday and it was Tuesday.

  Monday, July 19th, 2021 After docs chill       Whipped into Northwest hospital for chat with the nice lady surgeon who took my rectum and anus. She pulled her drain tube from my belly and it was a whoop from me. S harangued her cause the other surgeon, Wang, had failed to memo her that it would be okay to take his drain tube out and she refused to do it. Had some ostomy fun with Jan and Theresa and homed. S memoed Wang per lack of his memo as promised. Asked Wang when he was going to pull it then or could she pull it. Wang is so casual, but really I was surprised when he replied "Okay, yeah, you can."   So later she did; it was super anti-climatic compared to the gut tube pull. Anyway tube free at 10:21pm here on Whidbey. Tomorrow it's Zooming with Harris the oncologist. After that I don't know. Time to smoke.

 Sunday, July 18th, 2021 next day same position       Reclining in my chair at home it came to us suddenly that boredom was close at hand thus the notion of a quick removal to the stoney spit south of the Keystone ferry terminal. Set up with van on a side road just behind the stones from the ocean. After a nice rest period S and D and I set off for the restaurant, Callen's at the terminal. Maybe a mile. Had the bloody mary, the crab cakes and the damnedest jalapeno poppers. I was beat by the walk and wind so D and I took shelter behind the restroom at the boat launch while S walked to the van, stowed the furniture and got us for the ride home. Felt like I'd been on the road for a month. Good day but a little more intense in parts than one would've thought at the outset in the recliner. 

Saturday, July 17th, 2021 This is the only photo I have of this period that has any similarity to my hospital room        Ardeng arrives in my room at the beginning of his shift to introduce himself. I’m in the hospital and I’m pretty sure he works here. I prompt him for his origins and he goes into a lengthy story about his escape from his Tibetan village somewhere above 16 thousand feet. Ardeng mentioned it was a difficult undertaking particularly with the Chinese army sharpshooters but he made it all the way to UC Berkeley. He took some classes. He said there was a YouTube video of his trek out of the Himalayas. A world of different people from a lot of different places are in this hospital. The diversity here is more among the staff rather than the patients. There was also Julia from just outside Montego Bay, Jamaica. She had that rudeness masking kindness of the Belizean women I had known from the old time there.