On 01.02.02, I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Too late for surgery, I had chemotherapy, which failed. In May the chemotherapy was changed and I was soon in remission which was celebrated and welcome and lasted nine years - until October 2011. There was progression in 2011 so more treatment was indicated and I am now back in partial remission. But I'm not only a cancer patient - I also enjoy my family, walk my dogs and am learning to draw and paint. Life is good!

Monday, January 14, 2008

That wet dog smell

It smells like wet dog around here! I have chemotherapy tomorrow and always take Beulie with me since she wears a cape and is in training to become a service dog. And, just to make sure there is no offense, I give her a bath on the same 14 day schedule I'm on for chemo. Tonight, while I was at it, I gave Parisse a bath too, which she hated mightily. Two clean dogs, a lot of
moist doggy air.

A few months ago I saw the film, "Into the Wild," which broke my heart. It's about a young man who ventured into the wilderness of Alaska and eventually died there. You know that early on so I'm not giving anything away. It was a compulsive thing with me to read the book the movie was based on, INTO THE WILD, by Jon Krakauer, which broke my heart again. I figured it out that on one of his treks he was briefly in Berkeley, California, at the same time we were living there. Who knows, maybe I bumped into him on campus or at a coffee shop of something. From all accounts he was a wonderful young person and it's sad to know about his tragic end.




On Saturday I'm taking a 3-hour workshop on bird journaling and drawing. I'm not a birder but I invited a friend to join me who is. I'm more interested in the drawing part so I took some time this evening -- while the dogs were drying (!) - to copy a photograph from the cover of the new Dr. Foster & Smith catalog that came in the mail this afternoon. I have no idea what kind of bird this is - remember, I'm not the birder - I only saw it as brown and gray with shadows that I read as having bits of blue.

5 comments:

  1. Hope all goes well tomorrow, Leona from everydaymatters. :o)

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  2. great bird drawing! i love drawing birds and just watching them is fun too. :-)

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  3. Wonderful Barbara! A bird drawing class Sounds like fun!!

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  4. Simply lovely, and aren'y you lucky to have such a great buddy for company - Make it a great day!

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  5. Thank you, all of you!

    Leona -- I'm fine, the chemo went well.

    Leah -- I agree, drawing birds is fun and I enjoy the ones in a liquid amber tree that I watch from my kitchen window.

    Shelly -- I've never been to a bird drawing class & I'm not sure what to expect....

    Sandy -- Beulie was great today. I especially love it when medical staff get down on all fours and play with her!

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