August 30, 2009 Inspiration !!

Sorry its been a little while since I have posted anything but it has been a wonderfully busy few weeks !! The intergenerational camp at Great Camp Sagamore went really well. It was a great group and wonderful way for Sagamore to finish Grands for the summer. Last week Peggy and I were in Maine. I went to Mt Desert Island and had a wonderful time with some good friends who live on Otter Cliffs road, the seas were wild from the tropical storm off shore and on Monday Henry took us out in his Lobster boat to check things out !! One of the highlights of the trip was getting back over to Little Cranberry Island and having a chance to see an old friend, Ashley Bryan. Ashley is a wonderful author, painter and storyteller who is a full time resident of Islesford. At 86 years young his creative juices are still flowing strong and his enthusiasm for life is contagious ! He showed us all the original art work for his new book that will be released later this year“All things bright and beautiful”. It was such an inspiration to spend some time with him and so great to find him in good health and still loving every minute of every day !! A lesson that I have learned myself. Also while on the island I got to have some wonderful food,{lots of lobster and sea food !} thanks so much Gail. I spent the second half of the week at Meadowlark music camp helping Peggy with her classes and doing a concert set together. It was wonderful to see everyone who had been so incredibly supportive of Peggy and I during the winter and fall. It was also great to see some old friends and play some wonderful music. We arrived home on Sat. evening and today we are both feeling refreshed and ready to get into our Fall mode !!

Things are progressing nicely and over the last few weeks I have been able to eat some softer meats like chicken and roast beef and I am slowly beginning to put some more weight on. I am still resting during the day when I can, and enjoying the bursts of energy when they happen. The music work has become more comfortable and I don’t feel as panicked about performing as I did during the beginning of the summer, also my voice is slowly becoming a bit stronger even as low as it is. I feel a great sense of accomplishment having been able to perform most of my summer gigs. Although I still get a bit tired out it has been an enormous emotional and psychological boost! I hope to be able to have the peg tube taken out some time in the first few weeks of September if all goes well. I’ll also see the chemotherapy oncologist on Sept.14th. It has been such a treat to see so many of you at concerts throughout the summer. Words can’t describe how grateful I am to be able to be out playing music and for all the support shown to Peggy and I as my recovery progresses. We are really looking forward to our Fall music schedule and seeing so many of you along the way. Our friend Annette Backus from Maine sent us a wonderful “Soft Food” poem that I have posted below, Thanks Annette! Thanks so much again for all the support and I’ll look for you at 7:00.


The Food Mood
Annette Backus

The year I got Cancer, the doc’s had the answer
Soft foods were what I had to eat
So we pondered and thought, what’s allowed and what’s not
And developed a list - quite a feat

Some choices were clear, I could probably have beer
Although peanuts were out, what a bummer
I couldn’t eat steak, so make no mistake
This would not be my favorite summer

Although I’m quite mellow {?}, I couldn’t stand jello !
I really craved something to crunch
And I got quite rude, when thinking about food
Whether breakfast, or dinner or lunch.

So Peggy and I came up with a plan
That has worked for us all through my healing
What I can do, is pretend how to chew
Which can make any food quite appealing.

So… now I enjoy any food that I want
Crunchy or chewy, no matter
The only drawback to, though to “virtual” foods,
Is that they cannot make me fatter !