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We are back in Minneapolis and I have photos from our trip. The trip was really nice, relaxing and deserved. I enjoyed catching up with our wonderful group of friends. This was the fourth time JayBee and I have joined in on their Winter ski trip. I look forward to many more in the future.

My one bit of adventure included a vigorous snow shoe hike up one of the local mountain trails. Last year I also hiked in snow shoes, but the trail was flat and fairly uninteresting. This year, we found a trail that went up the side of one of the peaks in the Frisco area. It was very nice since it was good exercise and there were many outlooks to take in some stunning scenery. So below are a few of those pictures for your enjoyment.


Here are a few more images from the trip:
The view out our front window of our cabin.


Some pictures taken along HWY 70 on our way to the cabin.

And just before we returned to Minneapolis, Julie and Christian took us out for dinner at a Japanese restaurant named Domo. We had a variation on typical sushi, called Wankosushi. Instead of having the sushi fish with wasabi and soy sauce, here we were presented the fish with a variety of toppings. I believe this type of sushi represents rural Japanese tastes more than the Tokyo version of sushi we are more familiar with.

Labels: cold weather, friendship, winter

It is Tuesday and I went to work today.

This weekend JSP and I were in Denver and in the mountains near Denver. We went to visit my sister Julie, her husband Christian, and our wonderful network of friends that we have made through them. Most of the group skied in wonderful snow conditions, but due to my lack of strength and endurance, skiing was just not in the cards for me. In the evenings we played lots of games together: Pictionary, Taboo, Texas-Hold-Em, Triads, and Mafia were some of the group favorites.

Julie even brought her Champion Juicer so I was able to consume some fresh organic juice even so away from home.

The flight from Denver has my ears feeling weird; every time I swallow my left ear pops, and just breathing sounds strange in my head. Small potatoes I guess.

Just three weeks after finishing my first Interleukin-2 therapy, and I feel mostly better. The therapy was honestly the worst thing I have ever been through. Receiving a dose of IL-2 every eight hours around the clock for five days was very difficult to undergo. The drug is toxic, and the pain/sleep medication I was prescribed caused me very unpleasant hallucinations when I was awake. At the end of the week, I had gained 20 pounds of retained water, my immune system was terribly weak, and I had an infection of thrush in my mouth that made eating and talking very painful. I barely recognized myself when I looked in the mirror; my face looked like a puffed up marshmallow. I felt exhausted.

I am still underweight and bald, but there is a gleam in my eye again. I feel happy and I have my eyes open to the beauty of the world. I am looking for (and finding) joy in random places and simple moments.

One of the spiritual teachers of my young adulthood, Ram Dass, author of Be Here Now recently wrote a book on aging and death. I have been slowly reading it since I came across it at our local library. It is interesting to me how persons transition from a young sexy self image into a self image that is not young or sexy. At age 32 I am going through that phase a bit early perhaps, but there is no reasoning or bargaining with the mirror. Ram Dass has some useful thoughts on the matter. He tells his readers to embrace these changes and to wear your new self image with pride and dignity. One does not have to be youthful, sexy, or even healthy to hold a place of respect, or to be loved.

Labels: cold weather, friendship, juicing, Melanoma, winter

Everyone except JayBee and I have left the cabin to start the day. It is a nice day with part sun and clouds and temperatures in the 40s. Some folks took off for the mountains to get in some skiing and some folks went out to the trails to do some snow shoeing. The wind just kicked up, so maybe it is not such a tranquil day after all. I will probably get out and walk around the neighborhood shortly. I enjoy the relaxation and lounging around, but I start to feel sluggish if I do not get out and move around.

Last night everyone made it to the cabin after 5 PM. We have in total 10 friends hanging out this weekend. We got some groceries and then made a family style spaghetti dinner. The rest of the evening was spent socializing and enjoying each others company. A game of Taboo was played, in which the girls were pitted against the guys. The guys were beaten, but the game was close the whole time.

By the time Taboo was complete, folks were tired and the night started coming to a close. JayBee played a short game of Hearts with Julie, Jason and Cedric. I scanned through the movie King Kong to see the scene where Kong battled three T-Rex dinosaurs. I really did not want to see the whole movie, thus never ordered it via Net-Flix. Christian had it in his DVD collection so I brought it along to satisfy my desire to watch a few of those thrilling scenes.

At the end of the evening JayBee and I settled into our room. We had his EEE PC in the bed and we decided to watch the season premier episode of Battlestar Galactica. This is the last season of the show and we had waited for over a year to see the final season. Aside from the choppy nature of watching a streaming video, the show was entertaining. 4 of the last 5 Cylons have been revealed, and now we wait to find out who the last one is....could it be Starbuck, Baltar, Adama???

Labels: cold weather, friendship, winter

Greetings from Denver Colorado. JayBee and I arrived into the mountain time zone on Wednesday evening, greeted by JayBee's sister Julie and her husband Christian. The flight was smooth and uneventful, however the woman next to JayBee was generally annoying him much of the flight.

Christian and Julie drove us back to there newly acquired home. Moving from Washington DC to Denver has afforded them a great improvement in living space. In the Washington DC area they had a one bedroom condo. It was a very nice condo in an excellent part of the city, but it was small. For two people it was snug, but when visitors or guests came for a visit it was extra tight.

With the prospects of building a family in the future, living in DC was going to be a challenge. The prices are exorbitant and getting into a larger home would not be financially simple. Several of their friends had moved to Denver and were singing its praises, so Julie and Christian made their move here last year. I believe they have made a smart choice.

We are enjoying their space before we make our way into the mountains. The plan is to leave in a few hours to a cabin/condo that Julie has arranged for the 10 or so folks coming over the weekend.

Yesterday we spend most of the morning at the house and later went into the city. JayBee and I went to meet up with our friend Theresa. She and JayBee have known each other since college. I met Theresa when she was still living in the Twin Cities, just before JayBee and I moved to Holland.

Yesterday we met at Govinda's Buffet, which is a restaurant located in a Hindu temple. They serve a wonderful vegetarian/vegan buffet. Having finished our dinner, we went to visit with Theresa at her home. She introduced us to her three wonderfully friendly cats and we chatted for awhile on the penthouse patio.

JayBee and I returned to Julie and Christian's home. JayBee was tired from the day of walking and visiting and decided to call it a night. I joined Julie, Christian and friend from DC, Cedric, on a trip to an Irish pub. There we met Jason, Laura, Carol and Erin. It was great to see everyone and catch up. We are now both looking forward to meeting up at the cabin in the mountains and ready to enjoy a fun weekend playing games, hot tub, eating and relaxing together.

Labels: friendship, winter

I have not written for a while, not sure which direction to go in. Lots happening in my life, not as much time or motivation to write about it all.

A telephone call this afternoon has narrowed my focus. The call was from Dr. A. who had gotten a chance to look over the MRI and CT scan that I had done on Wednesday, March 5th. He mentioned that the tumors in my lung were growing quickly and that there were several new tumors in both my left and right lungs that were not there on the December 31 CT scan.

This is not great news for me.

I have an appointment to talk with him about starting a regiment of Interluken 2 (sp?) as early as next week., This is an immune boosting approach to fighting cancer that causes you to be quite sick for about 10 days, followed by ten days of relative health. I am not sure what this will mean.

I had been considering traveling to the Gerson Hospital in Mexico with my mother for about the past week, but I realize now that my habit of hesitation is no longer a viable approach to solving my problems.

I wonder how starting a cancer therapy will affect my body and my spirits. I wonder if it will mean not going to visit my sister in Colorado as JSP and I had planned. I wonder if the therapy will help me at all or only make me sick. I wonder what I should do.

In a few minutes, JSP will come pick me up from work and I will tell him what I have learned. We will drive home through this wonderful spring thaw weather and I will hold his hand while tears flow. My tears will mix with the water flowing down the street, melted snow. The water will run down the sides of the street until they plunge unseen into a culvert and be carried through the storm sewar to the Mississippi river.

Meanwhile I will look into JSP's eyes and I will be happy that he is with me to help me decide what to do.

Labels: CT, friendship, Melanoma, MRI, winter

This morning was a chilly -14 degrees as we made our way to our respective work places. We hoped spring might appear, or even a few days above freezing. Mother Nature has other plans. March approaches and I certainly feel spring fever. Tulip and crocus bulbs that I planted two weeks ago grow quickly, each rises several inches out of the potting soil. I scanned the seed mailers and look forward to planting heirloom varieties of tomatoes, peas and other vegetables. I should order seeds soon, so I can start some flats growing sometime mid March.

In this cold weather we have been hunkering down in the house the last week or so. Our last weekend was quiet, the first weekend in a while with no visitors and no visits. I did my taxes, JayBee played with is new tiny computer (see previous post) and we watched a the movie Curse of the Golden Flower and several episodes of the Venture Brothers.

The week continues and our home remains quiet. Tomorrow JayBee goes back to the doctor to have the stitches removed from all the the incisions that were made the week before. I believe this weekend we will be more active. Sunday we have plans to attend our first roller derby. The RollerGirls League presents two matches, the Atomic Bombshells vs. the Rockits and the Dagger Dolls vs. the Garda Belts. I have heard about how fun it is to watch roller derby from our good friends Morgon Mae and Pat. I am excited to see it for myself.

We are looking forward to visiting JayBee's sister in Denver. The trip is scheduled for the first weekend in April. This is a continuation of an annual ski trip that has its origins years ago when many of our friends in Washington DC met in the Pennsylvanian Pokonos. Many of these same people have relocated to the Rockies, and the skiing has moved to better mountains. I have yet to ski during any of the last four years I have made the trip. Will this year be my first time? I am a scardy cat when it comes to skiing. I am overly worried I will blow out a knee or ankle (both of which are rather fragile). JayBee will likely try to convince me to give the mountain a try.

We were both excited that our neighbors to the east in Wisconsin supported Barack Obama. He has ten wins in a row and has captured our support over the last few months. Democrats have two very qualified candidates to choose from. Last night we watched Obama speak at a rally in Houston TX to over 20,000 cheering folks. It is refreshing to listen to him, compared to the bumbling speaches from Bush these last seven years. Clinton speaks well too in comparison. The people at the Obama rally were diverse in all respects; race, age, gender. McCain on the other hand is surrounded primarily by old white men. McCain clearly represents a completely different crowd. The election is still many months away, but I feel excited about electing a president (either Obama or Clinton) who I respect and can be proud of.

Labels: Bush, cold weather, Melanoma, perspective, politics, winter

The eclipse will begin at 7:43pm (Central Standard Time) and last until 11:10pm. Totality will last from 9:01-9:52pm. Make sure that you dress appropriately and get outside to view this wonderful event.

The last lunar eclipse that JSP and I witnessed was from the streets of Philadelphia outside of our favorite dive, Frank's Bar. That event seems like yesterday, but it also seems like a lifetime ago.

Labels: cold weather, garden, winter

In advance of JayBee surgery tomorrow to remove sub-dermal tumors, last night we took an inventory of his tumors. After a complete scan of his body, I noted at least 18 lumps in various locations in his body. Most were pea sized or smaller, but there are at least four that are marble sized. The larger lesions have caused him discomfort. One tumor on his back thigh he compared to sitting on a stone.

The process was sobering for me. I strive to be optimistic that we are doing the right things and that he will successfully fight these "weeds" into remission. Confronted with numbers, size and locations, I am reminded of the reality at hand.

Finished cataloging the tumors, we settled into our cozy nest, thankful we were sheltered from the bitter winter night. Looking into each others eyes we realized how lucky we are together and how thankful we are to have the strength and support of the other. We are hopeful to spend many many years together looking into each others eyes and feeling love.

I turned off the light, cuddled in close, and felt overwhelmed with emotion. A myriad of thoughts whirled in my head, and I softly cried myself to sleep.

Today is a bright but cold winter day. I am working and feeling well. I am a lucky man. Despite the number of tumors in my partner's body there are positive signs. At least one tumor originally present on JayBee's upper lip, appears to be gone. This one was very present in JayBee's mind. He said it stared back at him whenever he looked in the mirror. He theorizes that because he was more focused on it, his body fought it more successfully. The mind is a powerful force.

The weekend is a memory now, but I am thankful that friends and loved ones chose to spend time with us. Friday night, friends Michael, Adam, Jesse and Conrad arrived to play a entertaining game of Settlers of Catan with both of us. Saturday JayBee attended a soccer organizational meeting and later played Dungeons & Dragons with friends. Yesterday was a family day and we enjoyed the company of JayBee's parents, three sisters, a brother-in-law and two nephews. I made some juice for everyone. JayBee shared some home brewed beer and everyone enjoyed chatting near the fire in the fireplace.

Spring is creeping into our house. Last weekend I planted several tulip and crocus bulbs in several planters in the house. I noticed yesterday that a few sprouts poke through the soil. My hope is that sometime in a month or so, a variety of blooms will be greeting us each morning, inspiring more spring fever in both of us.

Labels: beer, cold weather, friendship, juicing, Melanoma, winter

This is the first time in over five years that I have experienced a Minnesota Winter. The season started off fairly tame, December and January were significantly warmer than normal. However, several weeks ago that all changed. The average high temperature for the last two weeks has been about 5 F, this is roughly 15 F below normal. One night it even dropped to -18 F. I am solidly against this cold weather hanging around much longer.

I have to attribute my angst for this weather to the past five years of living in much more temperate climates. In Groningen, the coldest winter temperature was about 20 F, and in Philadelphia perhaps it dipped to 5-10 degrees one or two nights the last two winters. I had heard that Minnesota winters had also been quite mild the last several years, and I was hoping for a continuation of this pattern. Alas, I am dealing with bone chilling weather.

I do keep in mind that this weather is not significant in any extreme. No record lows have been broken, not even close. The record low for the cold night I mentioned above (-18 F) was -33 F. My sense is that our cold snap is lasting too long. I expect perhaps a week each year where the temperatures struggle to get above zero, then a rebound to normal. This snap is going onto week three.

Diverting my thoughts from the cold, we have been enjoying the guest that we have hosted at our home in NE Minneapolis since last Sunday. Our friend Rick from Aurora, Illinois has been seeing our city and his other friends. We all went to a performance at the Guthrie Theater, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. The performance was very entertaining, and we were all satisfied.

The rest of the week was spent enjoying cookies, pie, pancakes, Thai and Mexican food. The time grows short as our guest is returning to his home soon. Perhaps this last weekend of his visit will be spent touring St. Paul and going to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The week has been brightened by our guest, and thankfully so, because my work has been busy and stressful.

Also, JayBee and I will take our first vacation from work within the month. It will not be lengthly, at least not long enough for me. For five days JayBee and I will be traveling to visit friends in the Denver area. They have arranged a cabin in the mountains for roughly 15 people. We will be hot tubing, eating, drinking, skiing etc. This trip is a continuation of the ski weekends in the Pennsylvania Pocono Mountains that have occurred the last two years. The difference this year is that two of our friends formally of Washington DC are now living in Denver and they had the inspiration to invite us all out there to gather.

Viva friendship!

Labels: cold weather, friendship, Minnesota, winter