IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES, IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES

Well, they haven't got to the bottom of my love's current health problems, but they are taking the reins anyway. Last week his doctor said the biopsy of the week before showed that he has cancer. They could not tell if it was a primary or a secondary cancer. He scheduled a visit to the oncologist for Friday. We weathered our first two tornado warnings on Thursday night. This huge horn started up softly, building to extremely loud and lasting an incredibly long time. They reminded me of the sounds I had heard as a child to warn us of an impending nuclear attack. Not fond memories. They also reminded me of the movie the Time Machine when the Morlocks would summon the Eloi to the safety of the underground. Very eerie. In the dark because the power had gone out, with the sliding balcony door open, the lightning flashing and the trees moving endlessly; we sat there watching with rapt attention. We were probably the only people in Cincinnati that enjoyed that thrill. By Friday's appointment time the oncologist said that they had been able to do further tests, and that it was a secondary cancer. This means that it originates somewhere else in the body; but, they don't know where. He also said that rather than taking the time to do more biopsys to determine the source - the California way I'm sure, spoken with my best "Valley Girl" intonation - they were just going to use chemotherapy to eradicate it all! So, this very morning he was admitted to the hospital for a five day stay. After this, he will need a month to recuperate, then they will check him to see if they need to give him more treatment. The upshots are: other than the cancer he is a very healthy man, and the oncologist and the hospital are within 5 miles of our temporary apartment. So even though escrow on our California home finally closed on Friday, we are not going to look for a new home until this episode is played out.

WEATHER WONDERFUL WEATHER

The sky is a pale baltic blue with flecks of beautiful billowing cumulous clouds. A darkness flows in and suddenly a flash of brilliance cracks the calm of quiet contemplation. The air starts to churn and roil and the trees start to sway in a rhythm that only nature knows. Rain begins to fall, starting slowly, and reaching a crescendo only to sink back into a pitter patter, like a child taking their first steps. Suddenly it is over. The pale baltic blue once again takes over and my mind retreats back into restful repose.

The air is clean and fresh. Gone is the grit and dust that were a part of my life for so very long. My lungs seem deeper, perhaps because they are now more willing to take a breath. The world is in bloom and smells delicious.

There is a deer munching grass in the backyard of our temporary corporate apartment in the city of Cincinnati. We are on the sixth floor, nestled into the side of a rather steep hill. The picture above shows the greenery covering this knoll. In California I would have been intimidated by this hill. I would fear that it would come slipping down. Here I am at peace with it. The soil is as different in this place as the air is. We are still waiting for escrow to close on our house. Selling is just as paper burdoned as buying is, only we are doing it over long distance. We had a purchase offer the day after it went on the market and had hashed out a deal the next day. Now we wait.

The husband is much improved. He called his new doctor the second day after we arrived and received an appointment with him the next day. Two days after that he was in the hospital getting excess water drained from his abdomen. It is so very different here. There is no such thing as a 2 month wait and everyone treats you like the human being that you are. He has had about 3 procedures in four weeks, the last of which was a biopsy of a polyp on the adrenal gland. We are so happy. Things never happened that fast in the west. My health insurance doesn't allow me to have an Ohio address because it's only for California. So I have to switch to another company that my previous health insurance provider works with in out of state locations. It is still an "of California" plan, and it's name is otherwise the same as my husband's plan, just a change in the state adendum, and even though I am almost 10 years younger than he is, my premiums are 3 times more costly. Go figure!

We went fishing the other week. I caught my very first catfish. It was about a 12 lbs. blue. Big and beautiful at 24" long, and fiesty too! I was thrilled. I haven't actually hooked a fish in about 40 odd years. Yes, they were odd years! I also found a 4 leaf clover by the spot where I was sitting when I snagged that fish. So I pressed it in wax paper and now I carry it with me everywhere. The fish was lucky too. He/she went back in the water after we took the hook out!

Other than living out of 4 suitcases because all of our stuff is in storage, life is so very good. If I didn't need an income to pay for my health insurance I could happily retire. Until we get to the bottom of my love's current health troubles and a home of a permanent nature (more escrow) I am not going to look for a job.