I started my education in Pocatello Idaho at Jefferson Elementary...named after a man that I now find extremely interesting and admirable. Kindergarten was a marvelous place back then...with those inkwellian, fission proof, protectors of a booming generation our teachers called a desk. We each had a small rug that we brought from home for the nap we took after our break (we were there for an unbelievable four hours). The break consisted of a snack, usually a cookie of the Oreo type, and a drink, sometimes a small container of milk, but on most occasions the liquid refreshment of the hour was an orange colored, metallic tasting, liquid that now always comes to mind when I hear or think of the word tepid. This was not at all pleasing by and of itself...but wash an Oreo cookie down with that liquid warmth and you had something memorable...it may well be the reason my favorite candy to this day are those chocolate covered orange sticks I get from my family every Christmas and birthday...I never buy them for myself...and never...ever..."just cuz"...some things are too special...sacred.
At the kindergarten period of a persons life...time is endless...there is actually too much of it...enough to get into trouble...enough to start a fight with with your sister...enough to think this ride in the car will never end and you will never actually get there...but the more time passes the more precious it becomes...it hasn't actually changed in anyway whatsoever...and as I am writing this, someplace, somewhere, a kindergartner is waiting impatiently for that endless four hours to be over...while I look for the emergency brake to slow the whole damn process of time down!
We arrived back home to our new fence and old familiar sights...the couch that fits like a glove...our own bed! But what first caught my eye when we started to settle back in was the clocks...none of which had the same time. The antique looking pendulum clock in the living room said 9:47...the coffee maker said 2:16...the clock in the bedroom said 11:52...and the clock on the microwave said 00:00...00:00...00:00! How does this happen...we were gone less than two months...which due to the circumstances seemed like twice that...but how do clocks do that...was I constantly going around synchronizing my clocks for the last fifty years?...I don't remember that chore but it certainly would be just that...could it be that just like having cancer has totally thrown a wrench into my time, space, continuum that it has somehow affected the time pieces closely associated with me!?...I'm sure this will continue to be a mystery and if the whole thing was perpetrated by someone with a devilish smirk on there face as they read this...my hats off to you.
We had planned to be home for six weeks while I healed from the radiation...then back for the real fun... and we had looked forward to this brief bit of normalcy...but it was not to be...we are moving out of our house (anyone looking for a great buy in the mountains)...and we found a two week "boot camp" for cancer patients that can fit us in during this respite...so instead of a relaxing six weeks...we will accomplish many great things in a small amount of time! I am looking forward to the treatment center we are headed to...its in California on the edge of a desert and it follows a regimine of diet, exercise, and mind body connection that many of the books we have been reading on the subject have recommended...(I did previously mention eating a tree as a cure)...but our research leads us to believe this will be a positive move and we are both looking forward to it...reports to follow! 