Lost Forty

Hello friends and neighbors from hot and muggy Pennsylvania. It's time to put some soda crackers in the sugar jar. Whew! Summer's here for real. And I haven't installed the window shaker (a/c) yet, to help me "deal" with the real.

I continue to feel great however. Especially when I consider how I felt earlier. Not taking chemo does have some benefits. Of course I may be taking some months off my life. I continue to consider if, when, and/or how this pancreatic cancer will start to take over or spread. Where will it show up? Maybe it has, but I don't know it. I don't get another MRI until early July. Regardless, I'm going to enjoy this time and our big upcoming wedding event next Saturday when Annie and Adam get hitched and we officially welcome a daughter into the family.

Last August, while visiting in Minnesota, our family took a road trip from Bemidji to visit the Lost Forty in the Chippewa National Forest near Blackduck, Minn. The Lost Forty is about 144 acres of fantastic old trees up to 350 years old that were spared from logging crews after some weary surveyors who were marking out townships mistakenly made an error plotting a lake where there was a forest. It's a very interesting place to visit and had a nice walking path.

While there I  decided to purchase a tee shirt with "Lost 40" on it. This is not my normal style... to have a tee shirt with words or advertising. I am not sure what sort of compulsive thing took over me, but anyway I purchased this shirt which was too small for me at the time. I am modeling it below in a picture taken today. You can see it fits me fine now.

I often wonder what people think when they see these words on my shirt. Lost Forty WHAT?

Today I told Barb it can represent several things at the same time:

1. The area of mature forest in northern Minnesota it was originally intended to promote, or
2. The amount of weight, in pounds, I've lost since getting pancreatic cancer, or
3. The points shaved off my IQ due to chemo brain — another insidious side affect of chemotherapy.

That's all for now. Thanks again everyone for your ongoing prayers and thoughtfulness shown to Barb and me and the rest of our family as we continue to live (key word - live) with this uninvited guest.