With the Russian madman causing mayhem in the world, I am really trying to maintain a positive outlook.
The war news is dominating and it’s difficult to avoid. But am very aware of how my mental health can affect my physical health, so I am attempting (and so far succeeding) to limit my news watching/viewing. I look at just enough to get a very superficial overview but even that is more than I want. I feel so sad for all the people affected by this megalomaniac!
Time flies by, even the chemo treatments. Yesterday was #5 of the planned 6. The results of my blood tests continue to be good. The cancer marker went from 301 to 187 this week. But not low enough to move on to the next stage. Dr. McCleave said they want to see it at around 30 which is quite a long way yet.
When I came back to South Africa in 2019, I naturally gravitated to where I was born and grew up. And actually ended up in the what we used to call the village of Kloof. (It’s no longer a village!) Kloof is about 18 miles/29km from Durban and just on 1600ft/500km above sea level, giving the area a more moderate climate than Durban, usually being a good 10F less which was the case when I took Rodney to the park this afternoon. Plus less humid.
The fourth treatment went as planned. Mick came with me so he was able to meet my doctor. It’s always good to have another set of ears in a consultation but this one was very straightforward because everything is going so well.
November 16 last year is the fateful day I got the definitive news that changed my life.
By then I ‘d been in hospital for 8 days going through tests and everything else that goes along with a cancer diagnosis. I’d just had laparoscopic surgery for a biopsy and the GYN/surgeon came to visit me after I had very gently been given the diagnosis. He’s a lovely man and from reading his bio, a pretty religious one as well. He said to me as he sat at my bedside, “Have you considered end of life?”
Susan and I took the early ferry from Port Townsend to Coupeville on Whidbey Island, then on to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, and we managed to avoid some of the crowds. We had hoped for a sunny day as forecast, but as is the norm up here in the Pacific Northwest, the weather guys were wrong, and it was a gray, dreary, cold morning. But it didn't dampen our enthusiasm, as it has been several years since we went to see the flowers, and that day it was pouring!
Whidbey Island is beautiful; very different from the Olympic Peninsula, with rolling hills and pastureland and lots of farms and old barns. It's a couple of hours to get over to the Skagit Valley and we made out way to Tulip Town. The valley plants hundreds of acres of bulbs and the fields are easy to spot, the brilliant, jewel colors glowing against the drab browns and grays of the fallow and plowed fields.
Tulip Town, one of the show gardens, was already busy, and even though we were early (before 10am) the parking lot was almost full and the tour buses were starting to arrive. It's expanded since last time, with a big indoor area with a food vendor, (I hesitate to call it a cafe or coffee house) and a couple of gift stores where I hoped to buy a tulip dish towel! The cold wind was making it's way through the building as we made our way out to the fields.
As always, and despite the cold, the colors and the wide swaths of color are mind-blowing! The tulips were early this year, so even though it was the first part of the month, several areas were already over, but there were still acres and acres of color. It's also fun to see the kites that are set up in a field adjacent to the flower fields. The are staked down and the fanciful shapes and sizes soar in the steady breeze (wind). There were ones that twirled and others with l-o-n-g tails and Susan's favorite, the pterodactyls! All very colorful against the leaden sky.
Close, but not too close! The Tulip Police were out in force to keep visitors out of the vast fields of flowers! Although there were, of course, those who had to get out into the middle of the field for a selfie! (Not guilty.)
Trying to stay warm, we tried to keep moving but it was easy to get sidetracked into more and more pictures! Finally, we headed inside for a warm drink which worked more on our hands as we cupped them around the drinks, sipping to warm up!
Our next stop was RoosenGaarde, the second show garden. Both show gardens are owned by the Roozen family, which owns the Washington Bulb Company, Inc,/RoozenGaarde.
We pulled into a parking lot which ended up not being the main access but for us, it was perfect. There were very few people there and we enjoyed seeing the blooms without selfie sticks being thrust into our faces as we walked along! When we continued on to the main area, we were dismayed to see the masses and masses of people being herded down the pathways to the fields and decided that we would bypass this opportunity and headed intoLa Conner for lunch, a much more civilized idea, I thought!
A pleasant outdoor patio (the sun was coming out) at a Thai restaurant, a glass of wine and we headed back to Coupeville and the ferry home.
A very gentle adventure!
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