Sunset

Two posts in one day? Sure, why not?

Mark and Peggy

They arrived on my birthday, stayed through his, and left early Thursday morning. It was Peggy's first visit here, and it turns out that she loves the lake.  I always appreciate that in a guest.

It was a short visit, but it had all of the elements that summer on the beach provides. A walk on the beach, a couple of visits from OSLO, the COTU and the rest of her crew. A blueberry cake and a spaghetti supper. And of course, there was that all day rain. And the tail end of the construction crew.  So a busy time.

They came and returned via the northern route, across the Mackinac Bridge and through the upper peninsula. They took their time and arrived home safely today.

A Day at the Beach, A Walk in the Park

The COTU brought a visitor with them today to spend the afternoon at the beach. She's from Indianapolis, and is visiting family in Grand Haven for a few weeks. She is part of OSLO's new extended family, and the three kids seemed to get along quite well.

Introducing new friends and family to the slopes of Tunnel Park is a long standing tradition, one which doesn't  ever seem to get old to them.

It was also their first look at the nearly completed beach house, in it's nearly completed state.  They all approved of the final outcome, and are making plans to spend the night here next weekend.  Summer continues.

Getting Close

By the end of this week, nearly all of the big construction tasks will be done, we are told.  Yay.  This photo was taken about 8:30 this morning in the middle of a (short) bike ride.  Just too hot, too muggy to exercise.

Here's Some Stuff You May Not Want to Read.

The radiation oncologist (now, there's a phrase you don't want in your vocabulary) walked into the room, looked at my medical history form and said, "So you don't smoke, drink or use recreational drugs.  What do you do for fun?"  I replied, without a second of hesitation, "I ride my bike." He then asked me the first really intelligent question I have ever been asked by a doctor about my exercise habits.  "What's the furthest you've ever ridden your bike in one day?"  That triggered the TRAM 3, day 4 story about riding 75 miles, downhill with a tailwind, from Giants Ridge to Lake Superior.  He learned a lot about me, very quickly.

It was an interesting meeting, and except that he expressed the opinion that I need chemotherapy, I liked him.  Radiation therapy -- his specialty -- will be part of what I prefer to think of as my "anti-cancer" treatment, but it is done after chemo, if chemo is required.  Since he and my surgeon disagree on my need for chemo, the tie breaker goes to a genetic test which determines fairly precisely whether or not I will benefit from chemotherapy.  (That vote will be cast by a medical oncologist -- another happy phrase -- and of course me.) It takes 3 weeks to do the test, and this difference of opinion has essentially given me three weeks off in the cancer wars.  Everything is on hold until the results of the test come back.

There were a couple of other comments made during that visit that seem to have stuck in my mind, and I have been mulling them over -- usually while riding my bike.  The first was that the most significant side effect of radiation therapy is fatigue.  He says that it is mostly a manageable kind of fatigue -- like the kind of 'tired out' feeling you sometimes get in the middle of the day, but you're at work, so you can't take a nap, so you just deal with it.  I believe he actually used the phrase "accumulating fatigue."  Maybe it was the TRAM reference earlier that made this stick in my head, but learning to ride with accumulating fatigue was a major focus during my training rides for the TRAMs.  I remember "back to back 30's" as being my own version of block training -- the method recommended to acquire this skill.  Today I rode for the third day in a row -- with some accumulating fatigue.  But it is now 'accumulating fatigue' with a purpose, retraining my body to just deal with it.  It was about 8 a.m. when I left home, and the temperature rose about 10 degrees while I was gone, but it felt good to ride tired, in an odd sort of way.  Familiar.  The light in the morning gives our summer landscape a whole different look.  It's quieter and I swear the other early morning exercisers are a friendlier group than the ones I meet on afternoon rides.  Just sayin'.

His other comment that relates at least somewhat to the usual topic of this blog was about exercising during radiation treatments.  He says that there has been a fairly good, fairly recent study that indicates that people who exercise through their radiation therapy do better, in terms of how they feel, than those who don't.  (I know.  I, too, assume that people who exercise during radiation probably exercised before their diagnosis, and thus are likely to be more fit, and thus do better.)  We also talked about my theory that I need to bike less and walk more, for my bones.  His take was that I don't need to ride less, I just need to add walking.  And give up what?  Blogging?  Cooking?  Cleaning?  Sitting on the couch watching TV? Okay, maybe that last one. Some stuff for me to think about.  So that's what's been running through my head lately.  Aren't you glad you clicked on over here?  I'll try not to do this too often.  In the mean time, I feel good, I feel strong.

Just so you know, there are no cardinal flowers at the corner of 160th and Blair, at least not yet, as the photo above shows.  It was my turn around spot this morning.

8 A.M. Ride

I wasn't the only one up and out and about this morning.  "HLM" is the code for the Park Township airport.

Crime Scene Investigation

It has been a busy week. JB is convalescing nicely, the remodel project is moving forward slowly, and Totally Jammin' attended a Hope College Science Camp called CSI.  They like to refer to their science camps as Edutainment. TJ -- and his class -- spent the week investigating the kidnapping of a chinchilla. He is considering whether he wants to be a forensic anthropologist or an FBI agent when he grows up. (A squint or a spook, as he puts it.)  It seemed like a good time was had by all. 

I had planned to ride yesterday while he was at camp, and had just begun to gear up when our builder called with a paint color emergency which required my attention.  The crisis was averted, but no ride took place.  I was more successful today -- for the first time in about 6 weeks I got in a nearly 2 hour ride, for a bit over 21 miles.  Most of my recent rides have been what I think of as "Florida rides" -- more like 1.5 hours, a pretty typical ride for me in January and February.  North from the Bay to Port Sheldon Road, west to the lake, south to Idlewood and back to the Bay.  A few more of those and I just might feel like a biker again.

Early Morning Bike Ride

In July it is often true that if I don't ride early, in the cool of the morning, I don't ride at all.  I do not do well in the heat of the day.

Not as classy as the cows often shown here, but cows, none the less.

10 miles out with 6 to go, I found this.  A road side stand with blues for $2.00 a pint.  Payment is through a slot, on the honor system.  A pint of blues just fits in a jersey pocket.  Big, fat, juicy blueberries.

Did Someone Mention Tree Limbs Down?

Some nasty weather blew through here this morning.  It wasn't too bad in Grand Haven, so OSLO brought the COTU here so that TJ could attend his science camp.  When they got to about James Street and the highway, the traffic lights were all out between there and our house.  She picked me up and we headed for Hope about an hour before his class was to begin -- it is normally a 10 or 12 minute drive.  It took nearly the full hour. The city of Holland got hit pretty hard, including this tree uprooted on the Hope College Campus.

The roof on Padnos Scrap Metal building was torn off, blocking traffic, and forcing the closing of the southbound lanes on the bridge over the Black River.

My exercise for the day was a couple of walks back and forth across the campus, checking out the storm damage.  Most of their fallen tree limbs had been cleaned up by the time I picked up TJ at 4:30, and most of the traffic lights through town were back in operation.  We were packing up stuff from the freezer about 5:30 to take out to the beach refrigerator -- hoping that it was working -- when the electricity came back on.  Yay for electric power.

It has been a month.

Boy, has it been a month.  First things first, though.  JB came home from the hospital Friday afternoon, and he is doing quite well.  The surgeon said that everything went smoothly, and now we need to wait for the pathology report.  JB has next to no pain, and his appetite is slowly returning.  So all that news is good.

Today it has been a full month since my surgery, and I continue to heal well.  I am resolved to take good care of myself, and part of that requires an occasional bike ride.  Yesterday was hot and muggy, and while I did ride, there was no point at which the glaring sun made me want to stop and take pictures.  Today's plan was to ride early, and by 9:00 am I was headed out for a ride.  It was already over 80.

It is obvious that summer has arrived here while I was otherwise occupied.  It feels like July out there.  I watched the end of today's stage of The Tour when I returned.   It continues to be interesting.

Wednesday

I wanted to post a photo of PP with Big Red in the background, since I failed (epically) to do that yesterday. It was taken mid-point on a very mellow ride late this morning. We rode through the beech woods, stopping to admire the weeping beech at Marigold Lodge, and then out to the State Park. Along the way we took a detour through the historic cottage district up in the dunes behind Mount Pisgah, though that meant that we had to walk our bikes along the elevated walkway between the rows of cottages. We saw no signs at all that forbid bicycles until we were on our way out of the historic district.  Of this I am certain. 

We stopped for a little bit of lunch at the hot dog stand, formerly Pronto Pups, before heading back.  I took a little detour north to Perry Street, looking for a low traffic road where we could do a little flying.  The speedometer on Ruby crept up a little over 20 mph -- pretty low flying, but cool none the less.  PP headed back to Wisconsin in mid afternoon...  She was a pretty low maintenance guest, and we were pleased to have her spend some time with us.  (Tomorrow morning about 7:30 eastern time JB will have surgery, so I'm asking yet again that you hold a good thought for a successful outcome.)

A Few Photos

It turned out to be a pretty good weekend.  The weather has been as nice as it ever is or ever has been in Michigan, the company was funny and interesting, and the food was pretty good, if I do say so myself.

I have no idea how many trips were made up and down this hill by these three over the course of the weekend.  Let's just say 'a lot.'

Here we were just killing time, waiting for it to be dark enough for fireworks, which we watched from the beach, wrapped in sweatshirts and blankets.  I stayed up way past my bedtime -- they lasted until nearly 11:00 pm.  I took the only bedroom available in the cottage and fell asleep immediately, while the two girls hit the beach and watched shooting stars over the lake.  Mother Nature's fireworks were much more impressive than the man made ones, I'm told.

This morning we had to vacate the premises, as the old septic tank was removed and the new system installed.  We 'visited' the house later in the afternoon, and these three got in some swim time before we joined JB for supper. 

This evening PP and I headed back for one last beach walk -- the state park this time -- before she heads back to her prairie tomorrow, and I wanted to take her picture in front of Big Red.  You'll pretty much have to take my word for it -- she is standing directly in front of it.  Photographer error.

Hot and Humid, Biking Breaks Out Anyway

The Prairie Princess brought her bicycle with her, specifically so that she could ride with me. So how could I let 86 degree weather, a 17 mph wind, and dew points in the 60's stand in the way of a ride to the PSPS?

We stayed near the lake shore, taking advantage of the SW wind off the water to keep us a little cooler than the advertised temperature.  My dafter had expressed concern that I was overdoing it by planning on riding for an hour in these conditions, so I rode for an hour and a half instead.  My riding partner was young and strong, and though I did my best not to dawdle too much, I noticed that she was passing the time by singing to herself and practicing riding with no hands.  I'm old and still convalescing, so I had enough excuses to just relax and enjoy riding at my own pace.  I think she did too.  The afternoon plan involved some swimming with the COTU and OSLO, followed by a spaghetti supper, complete with brownies and apple pie for dessert.  She has gone off to spend the evening and tomorrow at OSLO's, but she will return on Monday for our traditional Fourth of July brisket and fireworks over the beach. 

Safe Arrival

There is at least one regular reader of my blog may have been concerned about the thunderstorms rolling off the lake today.  Following close on a visit from the little French Girl, is a visit from the Prairie Princess.

She said the drive was pretty awful. Construction, then rain, then construction, then rain. But she drove straight here with just one phone call for clarification of directions. She was met by the Grand Haven contingent, who are always quite excited when any of 'the family' makes a visit.

She will also be our first overnight visitor since the remodel project began, though there is a strong element of camping out necessary.  She and the COTU and OSLO are on a trek to Tunnel Park -- the rain finally let up, the sun came out, and traditions must be maintained.  We are very happy to have her here.