There Are Ruts In The Road

On The Easel:

Lady On A Train

Pastel 12 & 16

Ref: E. Hopper

Buck Moon

Pastel 9 x 12

Ref: Photo by M. Desisti

Update On My Health:

As the radiation treatment continues, my ability to stay focused and endurance fade. My energy level is significantly lower than before the treatments. While I seem to paint and sketch, I am losing some inspiration to write. It's scary, but I've been assured it's only temporary. The caution here is no one wants to commit to how long it will be before I recover.

I'm seeing my Primary to find out why this vicious cough and chest pain persists. It is a gift, I believe, from our friends to the north when they supplied the smoke and debris from their wildfires.

Lake Park Concert:

Jeanne and I ventured out last Monday evening to the opening of the Lake Park Concert series. The Steely Dan Tribute band, Black Cow, performed. It was a beautiful evening and an appreciative crowd.

I remarked that thought their guitarist was exceptional, only to find out later it was Neil Davis, one the finest musicians in our city.

Next time we are going to get there earlier and sit a little closer to the band shelter.

All Saints Hunger Booksale:

We are huddling in the basement of All Saints, sorting and pricing the books that have been donated for our sale in August. For a former bookseller like me, it's amazing to see books that were best sellers being sold for a couple of dollars.

I found a jewel. It was the publication of Garrison Keillor's That Time Of Year. Keiloor writes a detailed journey of his growth as a writer, journalist, and comedian.

Aside from him being a fellow Minnesotan, I, like so many, became entertained and amused with his radio program, Life in Lake Woebegon. His depiction of small-town life was universal regardless of what small town you experienced.

(Mine was Tomah, Wisconsin, in the 1960s) His parade of a slightly flawed citizenry portrayed the nervousness of living close to other people who knew almost everything about you.

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Ring The Bell

It appears there is a tradition in the radiology department at Ascension Hospital that patients, upon completing their course of treatment, ring a bell. ( We know not for whom this bell tolls.) Ring the Bell with My Sweetheart Jeanne. Jeanne drove me to all but two of the appointments. Pam Frautchi took me to the other two. Today, after being zapped thirty-two times, I rang the bell. This begins a roughly one-month recovery period where the effects of the radiation abate and, I'm assured, a return to normalcy occurs. In my case, I anticipate more energy and greater awareness. Books, Books, & More Books I am simultaneously celebrating the end of the third year of volunteering for the All Saints Hunger Book Sale. Next week, we will wrap up the preparation for the sale and open our doors on August 3 for the public. I ran into this humourous but quite accurate cartoon on a T-Shirt that shows most of the volunteer's sentiments at this point. If you think the printed and bound p...

It's time again.

It started in 2004 when we moved to our condo off Downer in Milwaukee. Then we mover to the Westside of Milwaukee when we rented from Ken Karr, the former landlord, now a current friend on Highland and 29th St. Then we moved to Mandeville Louisiana for a little less than a year. Returning to The Fox River Valley, we rented a home in Fox Crossing, formerly The Town of Menasha. When the tree fell on the roof, and the landlord felt no urgency to fix it, we moved to W. Commercial in Appleton. Here is a shocker. Are you sitting down? We are moving. No, I don't mean off the couch and out to the patio. There are too many damn mosquitoes for that to happen. No, we are packing our stuff, or at least the stuff we unpacked from the last move and moving to a home Maria purchased on Mason and Glendale in Appleton. Let me unpack that last sentence (pun planned for). We are moving at approximately the end of September to a house. The house has been in t...

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Many of us in Milwaukee have put away the black armbands recognizing our grief for the Brewer's early exit from the playoffs. The Packers are going through their season, letting Jordan Love grow into the vacancy left by the departure of Aaron Rodgers. The Milwaukee Bucks are daring anyone to try and take this year's championship away from them. Marquette, UWM, and the Badgers have an abundance of hope. Marquette, however, has the talent. My Treatments We are at a checkpoint. Along with my immunotherapy next Monday, I'm having a scan. It's felt that my body has shed enough radiation so we can get a look at the infected area and evaluate the progress. Watch this space. I am feeling well. I had little reaction to the second round of the Keytruda and don't anticipate any from the next injection. I went to Walgreens to get my Flu shot and my COVID booster. Remember when we used to go to the drugstore because they had a soda fountain. Wanderings Jeanne and I decided to g...

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