Thank You

Dear friends, thank you for your caring and kind comments on my post about the return of my breast cancer. 

I'm deeply touched by your comments and I know there will be more of them, more love, more support both before and after my surgery. 

Sending much love to every one of you. 

I hope you will enjoy the photos of Faith taking on Samson, chasing him around, on one of the very first days she lived with us. 

As you can see, she was a very frisky and totally unafraid puppy. 

Joy!

And they lived happily together for a long, long, time.

The End

The Devil We Know

 loses his ability to scare us. 

And that's what has happened to me as I have once again been diagnosed with breast cancer, 23 years after my first encounter with it. 

I will have my surgery at Adventist Health hospital in Bakersfield. 

I was there the other day, it's a lovely place as far as hospitals go. The Adventists believe in God's healing powers and greet you with a large sign to that effect in their lobby. 

I spent four hours there, I met with my surgeon, with nurses, lab techs, office personnel and every single one of those I met was kind and focused on helping me. As it should be in a hospital setting, but this went a bit beyond what I've experienced at other hospitals. 

And I never had to wait!

I met a nurse, a nice middle-aged English woman, who will be my contact, answer any questions I may have, and so on.  

I also received a binder with everything you'd ever want to know about breast cancer and then some. 

And it included my own pathology report. 

I also got a booklet, providing information on how to interpret a  pathology report. This booklet has been very helpful. 

As far as I can tell, my report looks pretty good. The cancer is not large, it's slow growing, and will respond to hormone treatments. There was one important test that had not yet been returned and posted in the report. 

Since I already had cancer in the same breast and received radiation therapy at that time, that treatment is no longer an option. 

So I will have a mastectomy, something that sounds awful, but I find I don't really mind. This breast has become my adversary by now, I would never trust it to behave again. 

And, as an aside, being a teenager in the 1950s, in the days of Marilyn Monroe, Jane Mansfield and big breasts, I so wished for some, but, alas, that was not to be. 

And who is grateful now? Me!

It will be awhile before the surgery takes place. I have another appointment with the surgeon in late September, so I imagine soon after that. 

Before that, I will have more tests, an MRI and a pet scan. The MRI, maybe both tests, are to learn if the cancer has spread. Normally done via a sentinel lymph node, but they took all of mine on that side last time. 

So I wanted to let you know. I'm looking forward to your loving support. You are such good and caring friends. 

I will approach this with a joyful attitude. I have known this devil before, so I'm no longer afraid. 

Credit for: The Devil We Know in my header goes to Madsnapper Sandra. Thank you. 

Credit for: The magnificent rose goes to Irma, Joyce's mom, who tended to it as it grew so large and gorgeous in her garden.

Sunday Morning Reflections

 

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,

whose mind is stayed on thee:

because he trusteth in thee.

Isaiah 26:3

Memories ~ Wyoming Autumn In The Forest

It's been so hot, how about coming with me on a trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming in the fall of 1969.

I often hiked in the forests that surrounded Jackson Hole. The forests were deep, the fir trees tall, the lakes clear with the Teton range reflected in their calm surfaces.  

The autumn forest was loud with the sounds of bugling elk and bellowing moose.

This was their season, the rutting season, what a name for the season of love in the forest.

This was also the hunting season, but in contrast with the multitude of hunters from all over the U.S. and the constant sight of dead elk strapped to pickup trucks that I saw in town, I never saw any hunters or heard any shots in the forest.

Out-of-town hunters hired local cowboys to guide them and I believe the forest we spent time in was off limits to them.

A guy friend of mine, whose name now escapes me, and I would hike to one of the lakes. This became our regular hike, Moran perhaps, was the name of the lake? 

We'd sit down, our backs against a tall tree and we'd be very quiet. Most of the time, nothing happened. On a few occasions a small herd of elk would come to the other side of the lake, some to drink, some to watch. 

While we never saw them butting horns or mating, seeing them in the wild was so worth the hike and the wait. 

All of this was later to become memories of my time in Wyoming. Memories I've written about before and will no doubt continue to write about here every now and then.

I'm in a way using my blog to write my memoir, not of just one period in my life, but a memoir of good times and the good memories those times created for me to reflect on, smile at, and write about in my old age. 

Just For Fun:

 Nature photos and Faith showing off her tongue:

I drove a different way home from town and took a few pictures. They probably all look the same to you, dry weeds and low-slung mountains.  

When I worked at UCLA I drove through what they call the flats of Beverly Hills every day. That's where the not-so-wealthy Beverly Hills residents live. The - a bit wealthier - live closer to the hills, and the really, really wealthy ones live up above - in the Hollywood Hills. I drove there too. I always enjoyed changing my route.

Here I believe, I say believe because I haven't explored alternatives, I believe I have three different routes to take home from town: The highway (freeway - truck route), the boulevard, which I usually drive, and Highland, where I drove this time. Just this small change made the drive much more fun. 

Finally,

Faith says: Check out my tongue here, will you!

Sunday Morning Reflections

 

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

The Lord make his face shine upon thee,

and be gracious unto thee:

The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, 

and give thee peace. 

Numbers 6:24-26

Sunday Morning Reflections

 

I saw two clouds at morning, 

Ting'd with the rising sun;

And in the dawn they floated on,

And mingled into one...

John G. C. Brainard, "Epithalamium,"

Occasional Pieces of Poetry, 1825

Visiting Joyce's Mom & Her Garden

This post is for my friend in Copenhagen: Annette, you would have loved this garden so much. 

Joyce and I visited her mom, Irma, in Los Angeles last Thursday. Los Angeles freeway traffic wasn't too bad, but I was grateful for Joyce driving us. 

Joyce's parents live in a lovely place in the big city. And their home has a beautiful garden. Every time I visit, I see new trees and new flowers that I hadn't noticed before.

The garden is lush and green and it really has a sort of magical effect, it's so large, with trees so huge, their canopies give so much shade. You would have to be a poet to describe the effect this garden has on me. 

This is Irma catching the oranges Joyce is picking for her. 

Irma's garden has oranges, avocados, lemons, mangoes, papayas and so much more.

Beautiful flowers are everywhere.

This rose had a heavenly scent.

A yellow rose, my favorite flower.

The variegated leaves of this iris were just magnificent.

This avocado tree is large and massive. I believe earlier generations of Joyce's family lived here and planted some of the trees and plants in the garden.

There were plants growing close to the ground and plants in pots. 

And a place to sit awhile.

On the way home, we got caught in a desert downpour. It was powerful, but short-lived. 

Fortunately, later at night, the cayon was blessed with a thunder storm that brought some more rain. 

I was so tired, I have no idea how long the storm lasted. But I'm so grateful for the rain.

And also grateful that Faith is not afraid of thunder and lightning. 

Just a bit concerned, looking at me - like: Hey, mommy, why don't you just make this stuff go away? 

Then we both fell asleep.

 

Coastline ~ Cambria, California

 By: Vince B.

Jane and Vince, took a trip up the California coast to a small town named Cambria.  

Where Vince took this magnificent photo. 

Thank you for sending it to me, so I can share it here.

Why Do We Still Use Pennies In The U.S.?

 For some time now, I've wondered why we still use pennies and some other old systems here in the U.S., instead of being on the front lines of change. 

Here are a few examples that must influence how we interact with other modern societies. 

Money:

Many modern countries, including Canada and Australia, are working in the direction of becoming cashless societies. 

Sweden, which in 1661 was the first country in Europe to issue bank notes, is now for the most part a cashless society. 

So why in the world do we still use pennies in America?

I imagine congress would have to approve getting rid of pennies.

Metric System:

When I was a teenager, I read Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck and learned that two men shared a gallon bottle of wine. 

I still remember looking it up and learning that a gallon was almost four liters, which blew my mind. Both the size of the wine bottle and the fact that two men were busy finishing it off. 

Checking online, I learned that as of July 2017, only three countries in the ENTIRE WORLD do NOT use the metric system:

Myanmar

Liberia

The United States of America

I know we are a very large nation, and I imagine it would be difficult for industries to switch to metric at this late date. 

It probably would have been easier years ago and we were headed toward a change in 1975, but congress voted to keep the Imperial System, as our present system is known. So here we are. 

Since we are doing business with the rest of the world, I imagine a lot of conversion must be going on, back and forth.   

I also learned that Britain switched to the metric system in 1965, but still use the Imperial system to measure distances. 

An English mile is 8 furlongs, which is 1760 yards and this is the mile also used in the United States and some, if not all, of the Commonwealth countries. 

Why not make it simple:

1,000 meters = one kilometer

In Sweden they call 10 kilometers a mil (mile) but I'm not sure about other countries using the metric system.

Multiply by 10 and begin with 1 millimeter x 10 = 1 centimeter, then 1 centimeter x 10 = 1 decimeter, 1 decimeter x 10 = 1 meter.

No furlongs to worry about. Not that we worry about furlongs in America, but still...

While I understand it may now be too difficult to change to metric, may I just ask this:

Why in the world do we still use pennies in these United States?

NB

While I checked around, I noted that some European countries had other ways of measuring distance, but I didn't add that because this would then have become a very long post.

And I a very tired old woman.

At Home

 

I've had fun with my cleaning projects. 

I enjoy deep cleaning bookcases and closets. It gets very dusty here since I don't have grass in my yard, just dirt. And even though I put in new windows, I just can't keep the dust out. 

Both bookcases are now done. 

I purged some books and will donate them to the Hospital Guild in town. 

When we first moved up here, I had two bookcases like this one, so at least I'm making some progress over the 16 years I've lived here. 

I have more books here and there around my house, books that were gifts, that I need to read. 

But I've been so absorbed in watching the former TV series - Madam Secretary - currently streaming on Netflix. I think this show is so good, it should be right up there with The Wire, The Sopranos, and Breaking Bad. I believe those three are the critics' favorite dramatic shows. 

When I was done with the bookcases, I started on the closet in the master bedroom and cleaned it out.

It's so much easier for me to part with clothes than with books, so after I separated the things I want to donate, I hung some of the rest outside to air out. 

Then put them all back in the closet. 

This picture came out unintentionally funny. A picture of me in the mirror of the half-closed closet door, taking a picture of the neatly arranged clothes in the other half of the closet. 

I didn't mean for this to happen or I would have tried to look a bit better, giggles...

After Sunday's Post About The Drought

this happened:

It was overcast! 

Sunday morning the sky looked beautiful in a promising or threatening way, depending on your need of rain.  

I sat in my chair, which is even more dangerous for me to sit down in than it's difficult to get up from. 

I may have to ease up on my shopping moratorium and buy a decent chair. 

Anyhow, safely seated, reading the Washington Post on my Kindle Fire, I saw a picture of a house submerged in water almost to the roofline. The result of too much rain, which caused severe flooding in Kentucky.

And I felt I should not complain about our dry landscape and vanishing animals. 

We are all in this together.

There's probably little hope for anyone to escape the ravages of climate change. 

I'm glad to have lived most of my life without this threat.

I'm sorry that I have contributed to it, albeit in a comparatively small way. 

And I will deal with my dry land, dying trees, and vanishing animals as best I can. 

Finally, I was happy to see a large Jack rabbit (hare) this morning.

As of Sunday afternoon, no rain so far.

15% chance, which mostly results in no rain.