Off We Go: In God’s Hands

Good morning MOTI. If all is going according to plan I should be in pre-op now awaiting surgery at 11 AM. Scheduled to last 5-6 hours.

It occurred to me that 99.9% of you have never seen me or Raj either in person or even facsimile so I thought this might be a good day to post this shot that a friend took of us in early April when I was feeling good enough to meet for lunch.

With my radiation-ravaged hair more or less regrown It’s as normal as either of us have looked in over a year and a half. As I’ve now been on steroids for 2+ months I have a new look now: the enduring pack-ratty chip-munky cheeked effect. Once upon a time that would have bothered me. Now I’m getting used to it.

Perhaps someday I’ll try to track down some of our REALLY old pics when Raj and I still thought of ourselves as dragon slayers or minimally young lions: a lifetime ago already. But as I’ve mentioned file/photo organization has never been my strong suit so I make no promises. Trust me though, back in the day Raj was always the foxiest guy in room (with the cutest dimples) and the most-est fun. And somewhere I have Kodachromes to prove it.

At this juncture however I will be delighted as age, experience, circumspection, a bit of wisdom and the benefit of hindsight settle into spaces and cracks left by all that incandescence, sparkle and shine of youth. God willing  I shall be most happy with just a bit more endurance. So I accept and humbly appreciate all of your past, current and future prayers on behalf of Raj and myself. And we are happy to return the favor.

 

 

NOTE: Posts for next couple of weeks are pre-posted, random, unlinked to anything going on in the real world. In other words, totally open threads so treat accordingly.

Time Is Short, But You Wear It Well (Shortcake Redux)

Strawberry season was short and not as sweet as usual here in Michigan's southeast quadrant. Most likely too little sun, too little rain. Still, we did score a couple of tasty quarts for cereal and yes, shortcake. And honestly, a bad in-season homegrown quart of strawberries will always be better than a crate of selectively bred-to-travel-cross-country-in-all-four-seasons California strawberries. So we wore them well.

“You knew it did not cost the earth, but for what it's worth
You made me feel a millionaire and you wear it well”

I recall last week’s pro/con discussion of whipped cream on strawberry shortcake and must advise that in our house whipped cream is most certainly NOT optional. In fact extra whipped cream around here is considered just a smidge below mandatory.

Wear it well.

Summer, And The Druids Are Restless

Revelers gather at the ancient stone circle Stonehenge to celebrate the 2023 Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, near Salisbury, England

I suppose this could help explain all the recent UFO mania regarding “aliens from further away than Mexico/Central/South America” that has been occupying America’s best and brightest political beacons of light as of late.

Sophie Woodrow ceramics

Perhaps we could try to ignore the nutz who feel that fake UFOs are more important in our lives right now than any real cultural/political/economic events ruining Western Civilization. Perhaps we could just get on with celebrating the actual beautiful season.

Lexy Pavlovich Belykh Summer on Volga 1988

 

He Will Order His angels To Protect You Wherever You Go

First of all, thank you, everybody, for yet another stunning floral arrangement which arrived to brighten our weekend. It arrived Friday and is still standing tall

with dahlias, peonies, alliums, hydrangeas and lovely pink snaps.

As you see, as lovely as all the others have been. I’ve finally collected all the MOTI flower arrangements into a folder of photos – they go way, way back to the first gorgeous bouquet we received when it was Raj having so many problems with his first knee replacement and continued through his second and then…well, everything else.

I’ve got documented Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Easter etc., etc. arrangements  - each as lovely as the rest – that have made us feel your love and helped us over the humps. You’ll never know how your prayers, cards, flowers, gifts and many, many thoughtfulness's have helped pull us through it all.

But now dear friends, you’ve done more than enough. Both Raj and I will be so very happy to receive just your prayers, positive vibes, good wishes and thoughts from now on. You’ve all done too, too much.  I’ll pull up the archived photos from time to time simply because they are too beautiful and deserve to be reposted.  But for now we shall be focused on preparing for and recovering from surgery and remembering all the kindnesses you have already bestowed on us.

Next week I’ll pre-post a couple weeks worth of open threads. One should pop up every few days and Raj will let you know if there is anything significant to report.

So Happy Father’s Day to everybody who is or has a father. Enjoy the return of the Summer Solstice next week, behave yourselves to the extent that even means anything in this crazy place we still insist on calling “our country” and I’ll talk to one and all on the other side of recovery.

He will order His angels to protect you wherever you go. Psalm 91:11

Thank you, all my little angels.

Be Still, And Know That I Am God

Delta Queen was right: she said things would get rolling this week. With the help of U of M Patient Relations and my surgeon’s excellent assistant I now have a surgery date (June 27) along with the battery of pre-surgery appointments/tests scheduled and am ready to roll.

Now all I need do is to bee calm

and control my stress.

So far so good.

You?

Be still, and know that I am God

Asparagus Fingers and Strawberry Feet

Following the stealthy advancement of a bountiful crisp Michigan crop of asparagus fingers,

June quietly snuck in on little strawberry feet.

And the local bounty - far superior to any crop bred to ship cross country – will be appearing for a few short weeks at local farm markets.

Will there be strawberry freezer jam this year? Probably not around here as even hulling berries seems an extraordinary effort.

Perhaps a short cake or two however, extra whipped cream mandatory. 

So you keep doing what you do best little red dudes,

and we’ll keep doing what we do. Together somehow we’ll make the world a little better for it.

Oh, and yes, I do have thoughts on the new trendoid variety known as the so-called “white” strawberry. But they tend to run  along the same lines as other cultural appropriation issues. Just. Don’t. Do. It. It’s stupid.

Ditto the Black Face Strawberry. It’s not real. It’s stupid.

 

Wings. Feathers. BYO.

Christina Bothwell, Lord Vishnu riding on Garuda (2014)

A wing and a prayer. A feather and a flight. Occasionally one must arrive with their own conveyances to soar over hump day into the rest of the week.

A Dog’s Serenity Prayer for Peace In Our Time

I continue to wait impatiently for word from my oncologist neurosurgeon/radiologist oncologist/regular oncologist/nurse from anyone’s office re. next steps in my procedure to have the brain tumor resection discussed further and scheduled In my initial consult with the neurosurgeon he suggested he and his team would meet with my by May 18th, 10 days following my initial consultation. Nothing yet, despite numerous calls placed regarding status of said follow-up. Thus my increasing symptoms of anxiety, high blood pressure, balance/coordination/motor skill issues and general malaise despite high doses of steroids, also not helping. Numerous calls placed, numerous “we are so sorry” responses from what I am assured for 30-40 minutes at a time while on hold is “one of the best hospital systems in America.” God help anyone not in one of the “best” systems as the dog day afternoons will chew your hiney up before you know what bit you.

I will attempt to find a way through this current medical logjam in 15 minutes.  Do say a little prayer if you are so inclined as my reserves are running low along with strength, stamina and sanguinity.